The Modality in which [Global] Class is Lived: Race, Nation, and Diaspora on the Margins

• In Event: 2384 - Section on International Migration Refereed Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 04. Diaspora and Identity

Abstract

At the turn of the 20th century, terms like globalization, transnationalism, and diaspora heralded the increasing interconnectedness of cultures, nations, and politics. More recently, while such global networks continue to grow at a rapid rate, nationalist rhetoric and politics have also become more salient as some decry diversity, the threat of “open” borders, and the impacts of globalization. At a time when globalization has become a buzzword for the 21st century, how can there be both the proliferation of global cultures and increasing rhetoric of protectionist nationalism?
This paper argues that such processes emerge out of the shared history of diaspora and nationalism. At the same time that national-building relied on essentialist constructions of race and gender to demarcate those who belong, diaspora emerged on the margins to encompass those who did not belong by emphasizing the flexibility and hybridity of cultural identity. Today, diaspora has emerged as a counterpoint to nationalism to encompass those who have felt “not quite” part of the national imaginary and those who have become “nation-less” due to the ravages of historical and more recent global capitalist expansion.
For those who claim belonging in the Black and Black Caribbean diaspora, their dispersal includes not just those induced by migration but also histories of race-based exploitation and oppression through the Atlantic slave trade. Through the example of racialized Black diaspora, I argue that diaspora today can be understood as a challenge to both race and nation through its use as a signifier of national and cross-national alliances. Taking the role of nation in reinforcing race-based marginalization as a starting point, I argue for diaspora’s potential role in the increasing relevance of globalized solidarity through channels of racialized global politics.

Author

• Jamella Nefetari Gow, University of California-Santa Barbara