New diaspora
Encyclopedia
Displacement
-Physics:*Displacement , the difference between the path of the initial and final position covered by a moving object**Particle displacement, a measurement of distance of the movement of a particle in a medium as it transmits a wave...
, migration
Human migration
Human migration is physical movement by humans from one area to another, sometimes over long distances or in large groups. Historically this movement was nomadic, often causing significant conflict with the indigenous population and their displacement or cultural assimilation. Only a few nomadic...
, and dispersion
Dispersion
Dispersion may refer to:In physics:*The dependence of wave velocity on frequency or wavelength:**Dispersion , for light waves**Dispersion **Acoustic dispersion, for sound waves...
of individuals away from their homelands by forces such as globalization
Globalization
Globalization refers to the increasingly global relationships of culture, people and economic activity. Most often, it refers to economics: the global distribution of the production of goods and services, through reduction of barriers to international trade such as tariffs, export fees, and import...
, neoliberalism
Neoliberalism
Neoliberalism is a market-driven approach to economic and social policy based on neoclassical theories of economics that emphasizes the efficiency of private enterprise, liberalized trade and relatively open markets, and therefore seeks to maximize the role of the private sector in determining the...
, and imperialism
Imperialism
Imperialism, as defined by Dictionary of Human Geography, is "the creation and/or maintenance of an unequal economic, cultural, and territorial relationships, usually between states and often in the form of an empire, based on domination and subordination." The imperialism of the last 500 years,...
. Such forces create economic, social, political, and cultural difficulties for individuals in their homeland that forces them to displace and migrate.
New/Neo diaspora is a revival or a build upon the standard meaning of diaspora
Diaspora
A diaspora is "the movement, migration, or scattering of people away from an established or ancestral homeland" or "people dispersed by whatever cause to more than one location", or "people settled far from their ancestral homelands".The word has come to refer to historical mass-dispersions of...
in the sense that it is focused on the cultural, economic, political, and social causes driving it, as well as analyzing the multilocality and self-consciousness developed by the social group. This concept also analyzes the ties within diaspora communities to their native lands, which are expressed through strong political and cultural participation in their ancestral lands. Other significant qualities of new/neo diasporas are the thoughts of return to their native land, relationships with other communities in the diaspora, and lack of full assimilation to the host country.
Origins and development
The concept of neo/new diaspora is explained by Juan FloresJuan Flores (professor)
Juan Flores is a Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis and director of Latino Studies at New York University. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Queens College in New York, and both his Masters and Ph.D from Yale University in German Literature...
in his work The Diaspora strikes Back, by stating that the concept tries to “state what diasporas are, how they are, where they are in time and place , and what sets of relations condition their existence.”
Recently scholars have begun to distinguish between different kinds of diaspora based on its causes such as globalization, neoliberalism, imperialism, or by the multilocality among individuals of the diaspora community and their ties to their native lands.
In his book Flores also references Nicholas Van Hear’s book “New Diasporas” whom identifies the “new” period as the end of the cold War, as of the later 1980s. “Van Hear describes the many unprecedented features of contemporary migration patterns and densities as they issue from revolutionary developments in communications technology and transportation facilities unimagined in earlier historical periods.
Juan Flores and The Diaspora Strikes Back
Juan Flores is a professor at New York University, whose work The Diaspora Strikes Back focuses on the eminent ethnic and cultural studies. Flores flips the process on its head: what happens to the home country when it is being constantly fed by emigrants returning from abroad? He looks at how 'Nuyoricans' (Puerto Rican New Yorkers) have transformed the home country, introducing hip hop and modern New York culture to the Caribbean island. While he focuses on New York and Mayaguez (in Puerto Rico), the model is broadly applicable. Indians introducing contemporary British culture to India; New York Dominicans bringing slices of New York culture back to the Dominican Republic; Mexicans bringing Los Angeles culture (from fast food to heavy metal) back to Guadalajara and Monterrey. This ongoing process is both massive and global, and Flores' novel account will command a significant audience across disciplines.Flores states, “But probably the closest terminological accompaniment to diaspora in its renewed use is transnationalism, to the point where the ‘new diasporas’ are commonly referred to as ‘transnational diasporas.’ The immediate caveat of course is that diasporas are and always have been, by definition, transnational-without transnational relations and deomographic movement there would be no such thing.
Flores notes that one of the most significant differences between a diaspora and a new/neo diaspora “is the intensity and reciprocity of the ties between emigrant or exiled populations and their countries of origin.”
A new understanding of the concept has led scholars to realize that diasporas are not about fixed states of social being, but about processes which begin and develop over time. Flores gives an example that the life of diasporas do not begin when people migrate, but “only when the group develops a consciousness about its new social location and a disposition towards its homeland.”
Cuban Diaspora
Cubans have had a presence in the United States far before the Cuban diaspora of the 20th century that was created due to economical and political troubles Cuba was facing. To this day there has been more Cuban diasporas due to the establishment of a new government under Fidel CastroFidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...
after the 1959 Cuban Revolution with a strong upheld. Fidel Castro embraced communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
and established a political and economic system which the government controlled the resources forcing some Cubans to migrate.
“While Cubans have been coming to America since the days of Spanish rule, by far the largest number arrived after Castro took power. In the decades following Castro’s revolution, more than one million people left the island. This ‘great migration’ is known in Spanish as el exilio, or ‘exile.’ Cubans were exiled – forced to leave their homeland – because of bitter disagreement with Castro’s government.”
Today
Similar to any other group who has migrated to the United States for whatever reasons, Cubans have also arrived sharing their customs and has helped the nation to be further diverse. “Cuban Americans make up less than 1 percent of the U.S. population, but they are among the most successful and politically active of recent immigrants.”Cuban refugees were always welcome with open arms until the 1990s. President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
“reacted by doing what no U.S. president had ever done - he ordered a halt to the special treatment of Cuban refugees. For more than thirty years, a succession of presidents had dispensed unprecedented financial aid to those fleeing Cuba.” These new arrivals of refugees were labeled as “los marielitos” as they arrived in large numbers. Unlike the prior waves of Cuban immigration, these new waves lacked the skills the earlier Cuban settlers held. Also, Americans perceived these new refugees negatively for their darker skin tone and more rapid Spanish speaking compared to prior Cuban refugees.
Like every other minority, Cubans have also had to struggle through oppression and adversity. To this day Cubans are settle in major cities such as Miami, Florida, (largest Cuban settlement), Manhattan, NY (with neighboring cities), and Los Angeles, CA. Some successful Cubans of today are part of our everyday lives as they are either in the media as actors, musicians, entertainers, or being politicians.
Cubans are also very active in politics, “unlike most other Latinos, a majority of Cubans have traditionally voted Republicans - due largely to the Republican Party’s strong stance against Cuban dictator Fidel Castro” They have also used all the government support they have received wisely to distinguish themselves apart from the other Latino groups, “Cuban immigrants manifest higher levels of income and education that the aggregate of other Latino groups while exhibiting lower poverty levels.”
Music as a transational space
In 2006 the single “Nuestro Himno”, a Spanish paraphrased version of the “Star Spangled Banner” was released as part of a project trying to support the ongoing demonstrations in support of Latino immigrants who mobilized demanding an immigration reform.Such approach has been described as a symbolic gesture toward the (re)claiming of the US, public space and the contested meaning of national belonging.
The single was a significant project because in this context Latino music was used for creating common space where imagining and enacting Latinidad beyond traditional national borders. Furthermore, Maria Cepeda argues in her work “Singing the Star-Spanglish Banner”, present day immigrants are intimately familiar with the mass meditated imaginary that shapes as much as it reflects their movement homeward.”
See also
- List of diasporas
- Displaced personDisplaced personA displaced person is a person who has been forced to leave his or her native place, a phenomenon known as forced migration.- Origin of term :...
- Ethnic cleansingEthnic cleansingEthnic cleansing is a purposeful policy designed by one ethnic or religious group to remove by violent and terror-inspiring means the civilian population of another ethnic orreligious group from certain geographic areas....
- Human migrationHuman migrationHuman migration is physical movement by humans from one area to another, sometimes over long distances or in large groups. Historically this movement was nomadic, often causing significant conflict with the indigenous population and their displacement or cultural assimilation. Only a few nomadic...
- ImmigrationImmigrationImmigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...
- Population transferPopulation transferPopulation transfer is the movement of a large group of people from one region to another by state policy or international authority, most frequently on the basis of ethnicity or religion...
- RefugeeRefugeeA refugee is a person who outside her country of origin or habitual residence because she has suffered persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or because she is a member of a persecuted 'social group'. Such a person may be referred to as an 'asylum seeker' until...