Let it flow

Abstract

The concept of diaspora is applied to all kinds of groups characterized spatially by its links between locality and a ‘homeland’. In this article I will argue that the analytical value of the concept of diaspora could be strengthened by focusing on the third spatial relationship characteristic to diasporas but often neglected: the lateral relationship of individual communities. This essay deals with all three spatial connections and focuses on how diasporic groups can be approached anthropologically. It argues that despite recent claims to pursue a more and more mobile research methodology, in practice these claims often cannot be carried out due to various circumstances that prevent the researcher from being mobile himself. Using my field-research on the Sindhis of Gibraltar, it points out two possible approaches of how stationary anthropological field research still can be carried out in diasporic situations. It shows how relevant space relations both to the diaspora as a whole as well as to India as the mythic land of origin are created, performed, maintained, lived and given sense locally, arguing that both public discourse and counter-narratives about Gibraltar, India and the diasporic web are expressions of various power struggles over spatial and social control.

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