Toward a definition of diaspora
Abstract
With the emergence of diaspora studies as a field, scholars from different disciplines have offered diverse definitions of the concept of diaspora. Thus far, scholarly debates about what constitutes a diaspora continue to thrive. In this article, I approach this conceptual divide inductively, by analysing how scholars identify and discuss the defining features of diaspora. I have constructed a database that consists of highly cited articles in the social sciences and the humanities that define diaspora. Using ATLAS.ti, a qualitative data analysis software, I coded and aggregated the most prevalent attributes of diaspora in those definitions. The features that appear in at least half of the definitions are dispersal or immigration, location outside a homeland, community, orientation to a homeland, transnationalism, and group identity. These attributes provided me with the foundation to offer a clear, comprehensive, and workable definition of diaspora.
Cite this
Jonathan Grossman (2018). Toward a definition of diaspora. Ethnic and Racial Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2018.1550261
@article{jonathan2018toward,
title = {Toward a definition of diaspora},
author = {Grossman, Jonathan},
year = {2018},
journal = {Ethnic and Racial Studies},
doi = {10.1080/01419870.2018.1550261}
}Citations in this library
Stored only when both papers are in the corpus — 146 citations exist upstream.