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Diaspora politics is thepolitical behavior of transnationalethnicdiasporas, their relationship with their ethnichomelands and their host states, and their prominent role inethnic conflicts.[1] The study of diaspora politics is part of the broader field ofdiaspora studies.
To understand a diaspora's politics, one must first understand its historical context and attachments.[2] A diaspora is a transnational community that defined itself as a singularethnic group based upon its sharedidentity. Diasporas result from historical emigration from an originalhomeland. In modern cases, this migration can be historically documented, and the diaspora associated with a certain territory. Whether this territory is in fact the homeland of a specific ethnic group, is a political matter. The older the migration, the less evidence there is for the event: in the case of theRomani people the migration, the homeland, and the migration route have not yet been accurately determined. A claim to a homeland always has political connotations and is often disputed.
Self-identified diasporas place great importance on their homeland, because of their ethnic and cultural association with it, especially if it has been 'lost' or 'conquered'. That has ledethnic nationalist movements within several diasporas,[example needed] often resulting in the establishment of asovereign homeland. However, even when they are established, it is rare for the complete diaspora population to return to the homeland, and the remaining diaspora community typically retains significant emotional attachment to the homeland, and the co-ethnic population there.
Ethnic diaspora communities are now recognized by scholars as "inevitable" and "endemic" features of the international system, writesYossi Shain andTamara Cofman Wittes,[1] for the following reasons:
Diasporas are thus perceived as transnational political entities, operating on "behalf of their entire people" and capable of acting independently from any individual state (their homeland or their host states).
