Diaspora Management Logics

• In Event: State and Diaspora Policies on Ethnicity and Political Engagement

Abstract

Beyond the variation in defining the diaspora in each country, there is also variation in the application of policy by each country toward its various diaspora segments. For instance, countries like Canada and Sweden have uniform policies to engage their diasporas, while others like Mexico or South Korea vary their diaspora policy on the basis of the citizens’ skills or host country origin. What accounts for this variation? Some scholars suggest that the variation is due to labor market needs; others claim it is due to characteristics of the various diasporic communities (e.g., ideology, wealth, educational background, degree of assimilation, and/or time abroad); yet others highlight the importance of lobbying efforts by diaspora entrepreneurs. I argue that state policies toward different diasporic communities are also a function of both the role that each community plays in the receiving country relative to its potential role in the—real or imagined—homeland as well as the bilateral relations—and balance of power—between the receiving and sending states. My study helps elucidate currently understudied questions of when and how national security imperatives shape diaspora management policies, and it examines how states reconcile sometimes contradictory imperatives of national security, economic development, and ethnic solidarity when engaging their diasporas.

Author

• Harris Mylonas, George Washington University