In: Psychology
After reading Vertovec’s “Three Meanings of Diaspora,” discuss the differences between the three different types of diasporas that Vertovec highlights.
The term diaspora comes from the words dia meaning “away” and speirein meaning “scatter” or “sow.” Connotatively, diaspora has been defined variedly. ... The term diaspora is also sometimes used to connote the evolution of human civilisation all over the world.. It is argued that the concept of diaspora, understood as a transnational social organisation relating both to the society of origin and the society of settlement, can give a more profound understanding of the social reality in which refugees live. The article provides a brief presentation of current debates about transnationalism and diasporas. Empirical evidence from Kurdish refugee communities in Europe is used to highlight the fact that the concept of diaspora can provide an analytical tool for a sociological study of refugees in the country of exile. However, the current over-use and under-theorisation of the notion of ‘diaspora’ among academics, transnational intellectuals and ‘community leaders’ alike,-- which sees the term become a loose reference conflating categories such as immigrants, guest-workers, ethnic and ‘racial’ minorities, refugees, expatriates and travellers -- threatens the term’s descriptive usefulness