Diasporas and political obligation

This chapter critically discusses the nexus between diaspora politics and political remittances from a conceptual perspective. It aims to present three streams of literature together – namely, that on the conceptualization of diasporas, on new social movement theory, and on political transnationalism and remittances. The chapter suggests diaspora politics as a space in which diasporic identities are constructed and sometimes contested instead of applying a categorical concept of diaspora, which establishes a matrix of criteria to distinguish between &s;true&s; and &s;false&s; diasporas. It explores diaspora politics within new social movement theory by underlining that diaspora politics forms collective identities and by stressing the importance of political opportunity structures. The chapter argues that political remittances, which are emitted as part of diasporic politics, are multidirectional and are highly influenced by the context in which migrants live and have lived before their migration.