Diaspora Pol in Amer Antipod

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

This course explores the burgeoning literature on migrant transnationalism and diasporas. Key themes include: how peoples' identities change as they migrate; how the politics of one country plays out in other countries through the agency of migrants and their descendants; the effects of “brain-drains” and “brain-gains”; the challenges that diasporas pose to conventional notions of citizenship, loyalty, and family; how states cope with conflicts between migrant communities; and the roles diasporas may play in the promotion of economic development, conflict, or peace through the transfer of remittances and human capital. Drawing on interdisciplinary social science literature, the course focuses principally on diasporic politics in the high immigration receiving states of Australia, Canada, and the United States with comparative reference to Europe, Israel, and Latin America.