From Nationals Abroad to 'Diaspora':

The Rise and Progress of Extra-Territorial

and Over-State Nations

Stephane Dufoix

In recent decades, the use of the word 'diaspora' has undergone significant changes.
Among these, the latest evolution is the rise of the term as a political-administrative
category mobilised by more and more states to describe either their nationals living
abroad, or a body of people that are connected to the homeland through nationality
or only by descent. Most of the time, these descriptions go hand in hand with the
elaboration and implementation of policies specifically aimed at these populations:
voting rights, political representation, online registration, diaspora-homeland
meetings, and so on. These policies can be analysed in relation to the rise of two
new visions of the nation: one being the extra-territorial nation, with inclusion of
nationals abroad as full citizens; the other being the over-state nation, with inclusion
of people who are not nationals but connected through descent to the homeland.
Since the early twenty-first century, some multilateral agencies or organisations
have become active in including these policies into the 'best practices' they propose
for states to adopt under the rubric of 'diaspora engagement' or 'diaspora policy'.
The definition of diaspora employed in this new lexicon is interestingly quite distinct
from the original definition, and also from most academic conceptualisations.
While it has now been fully integrated into the lexicon of migration studies, the
academic conceptualisation of the word diaspora has only materialised since the
late 1970s- for various attempts at a conceptual history of the term, see Edwards,
2001; Mayer, 2005; Mishra, 2006; Dufoix, 2008 & 2012 (forthcoming). Here, two

The author is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Paris Ouest Nanterre and
a member of the Universitaire de France.

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different streams can be distinguished, forming two separate versions of diaspora.

The first one, mostly relying on the paradigmatic Jewish case, see diasporas as
characterised by migration or exile, nostalgia, perpetuation of original traditions,
customs and languages, and a dream of return to the homeland. In this respect, it
is a centred version of diaspora, and its first conceptual presentation is certainly
the one given in 1976 by the political scientist John Armstrong according to which
diaspora applies to 'any ethnic collectivity which lacks a territorial base within a
given polity; that is, a relatively small mfnority throughout all portions of the
polity' (Armstrong, 1976, 393). While his definition includes nomadic groups, it is
no longer the case with the first comprehensive and collective work on diasporas
conducted by the Israeli political scientist Gabriel Sheffer in 1986. Sheffer bases
his analysis on a definition that insists on the belief in a common origin, and
especially on the existence of regular contacts with the homeland through the
establishment of trans-state networks: 'Modern diasporas are ethnic minority
groups of migrant origins residing and acting in host countries, but maintaining
strong sentimental and material links with their countries of origin - their
homelands' (Sheffer, 1986, 3; Sheffer, 2003).
Quite often, centred versions of diaspora display categorical definitions,
proposing a set of criteria that entitle some populations to constitute a diaspora but
not others. Here, a distinction is usually drawn between 'true' and 'false' diasporas,
with subtypes identified depending on the number of criteria used in a given case.
For instance, French geographer Yves Lacoste is of the opinion that true diasporas
are recognised by a simple variable: 'the scattering of most of one people'. In this
respect, there are only five true diasporas: Jewish (Ashkenazi and Sephardic),
Lebanese, Palestinian, Armenian, and Irish (Lacoste, 1989, 4). On the other hand,
multi-criteria definitions often try to preserve the meaning of diaspora by drawing
on one historical case to identify the relevant criteria. In 1991, in the first issue of the
interdisciplinary journal Diaspora (founded by Khachig Tololyan), American political
scientist William Safran constructs the very first set of criteria for diasporas. According
to Safran, the concept of diaspora can be applied only if it shares 'several of the
following characteristics': dispersion from an original centre to at least two foreign
regions; existence of a collective memory about the original homeland; common
belief in the minority status of the group; definition of the homeland as the place to
return to; commitment to the maintenance or restoration of the homeland; and the
continued presence of relationships to the homeland (Safran, 1991, 83-84). In Global
Diasporas: An Introduction (1997, 26), sociologist Robin Cohen relies on the previous
attempt by Safran to propose a conceptual model that includes nine common features

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of a diaspora: ( 1) dispersal or (2) expansion from a homeland to at least two foreign

regions, (3) a collective memory about a homeland, (4) idealisation of the homeland,
(5) a return movement, (6) a strong ethnic consciousness, (7) a troubled relationship
with host societies, (8) a sense of empathy and solidarity with co-ethnic members,
and (9) an enhanced creativity. Cohen then distinguishes various subtypes: victim
diasporas (Jews, Africans, Armenians, Palestinians),labour diasporas (Indians), trade
diasporas (Chinese), and imperial diasporas (Britons, French, Spaniards, Portuguese).
The second version of diaspora relies not on the Jewish, but on the Black/
African diaspora. Its origins lie in the evolution since the mid-1970s of 'British
Cultural Studies', which paid greater attention to identity issues. British sociologists
Stuart Hall and Paul Gilroy epitomise this version. Though Hall's ideas were already
expressed during the mid-1970s- for instance, at a 1975 United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) conference entitled 'Africa is Alive
and Well and Lives in the Diaspora' - they were more formally enunciated only
from the late 1980s onwards. His vision of 'Blackness' being cultural and not
phenotypical, he believes that 'Africa' is constantly reinterpreted andre-elaborated
outside Africa. Instead of postulating some kind of'African essence' or 'purity', he
insists on the importance of the cultural production of 'Africa' in the Caribbean,
even if this production results in the search for African origins in Caribbean culture.
As he puts it, 'it has been a matter of interpreting "Africa", re-reading "Africa", of
what "Africa" could mean to us now, after [the] diaspora' (Hall, 1999, 12-13). In this
respect, the word 'diaspora' changes meaning once more; Not referring to any kind
of real and direct connection to Africa, it becomes the positive symbol of 'life' as
opposed to 'survival', of 'decentring' as opposed to 'centring', of 'heterogeneity'
as opposed to 'homogeneity'. Hall (1990, 235) uses:
... this term here metaphorically, not literally: diaspora does not refer us to
those scattered tribes whose identity can only be secured in relation to some
sacred homeland to which they must at all costs return, even if it means
pushing other people into the sea. This is the old, the imperialising, [and] the
hegemonising form of"ethnicity" .... The diaspora experience ... is defined,
not by essence or purity, but by the recognition of a necessary heterogeneity
and diversity; by a conception of "identity" which lives with and through,
not despite, difference; by hybridity. Diaspora identities are those which are
constantly producing and reproducing themselves anew, through
transformation and difference.
Paul Gilroy thinks along the same lines; he, too, insists on the fact that diaspora

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does not necessarily imply static and fixed conceptions of identity, and articulates it
as the idea of the 'changing same' borrowed from the Black-American poet and
writer Leroi Jones. The 'changing same' is tantamount neither to essence nor to
absence of unity: 'Neither squeamish nationalist essentialism nor lazy, premature
post-modernism- the supposedly strategic variety of essentialism- is a useful
key to the untidy workings of creolised, syncretised, hybridised and impure cultural
forms' (Gilroy, 1994, 211). Yet, as far as the relationship between 'Jewish' and 'African'
(or 'Black') diasporas are concerned, Gilroy's views are somewhat different. In
particular, he accords more importance to the historical mingling of these diasporic
concepts than to a frontal opposition between them when he declares (Gilroy, 1993,
205):
It is often forgotten that the term "diaspora" comes into the vocabulary and
the practice ofpan-Africanist policies from Jewish thought. It is used in the
Bible but begins to acquire something like its looser contemporary usage
during the late nineteenth century - the period which saw the birth of
modern Zionism and ... [Black nationalisms] which share many of its
aspirations and some of its rhetoric.
But in James Clifford's (1994) work the two versions ofdiaspora are opposed to one
another: a modem, centred, and territorial vision versus a post-modem, emancipatory,
and de-territorialised one.
The Rise of a Third Synthetic Version ofDiaspora
With the emergence and spread of information and communications technologies,
making it possible for migrants and expatriates to keep in close contact with their
relatives at home, with what's happening in the homeland, as well as with their
fellow citizens or ethnics living in other parts of the world, emigration and expatriation
have become less and less analysed as a brain drain. At the intersection of the logic
of origin and the logic of'connectivity in dispersion', a new use of the term 'diaspora'
emerges from the mid-1990s. It relates to the networks that groups of highly skilled
migrants build in order to take part in the development of their countries of origin, as
well as to possibly supporting, maintaining, or even creating a link between expatriates
and their homeland (country of origin). Until the early 1990s, emigration of students
and elites from so-called 'developing' countries was seen as being a catastrophe,
the haemorrhaging of their most talented or promising workforce. Qualified migrants,
expatriates or migrant students are bound to be seen as a 'loss' to the country, and
the logic of the brain drain was considered an obstacle to potential development.
According to the brain drain theory, expatriation, and particularly high-skilled

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migration, is regarded as a danger that threatens national development and which

can only be ameliorated by the return of these expatriates.
In the 1970s, the economist Jagdish Bhagwati suggested that a tax should be
levied on the brain drain in order to create more funding resources for developing
countries (Bhagwati, 1972 & 1976; Bhagwati & Wilson, 1989). In subsequent years,
Bhagwati progressively took into account the new economic policies that such
countries as China (the People's Republic of China, PRC) and then India had
implemented to favour investment from expatriates (Guerassimoff, 1997). He, therefore,
amended his initial model and put greater emphasis on the importance of expatriates
as wealth-creators for their homeland. In an article in The Wall Street Journal, he
and his co-author draws a sharp contrast between 'brain drain' and 'diaspora',
asserting that developing countries have now started considering the advantages
ofemigration, thus turning a 'negative brain drain' into a 'positive diaspora' (Bhagwati
& Rao, 1994 ). From 1996 onwards, and more particularly after a widely cited article
published in Foreign Affairs, Bhagwati (2003, 101) started to propound a 'diaspora
model', as well as an opportunity for states to organise a 'warmer embrace to their
nationals abroad' (Bhagwati, 2004, 215).
Thus, from the mid-1990s brain drain analysis was gradually superseded by
brain gain theory that ascribes value to or valorises expatriation, and considers
that geographical distance does not necessarily imply lack of interest in the
future ofthe homeland (country of origin). Yet, it is only after the first networks
of highly skilled migrants were created- such as the Colombian Red Caldas,
established in 1991; and the South African Network of Skills Abroad (SAN SA),
founded in 1998 (on the Red Caldas, see Chaparro eta/, 2004; and on SANSA,
see http://sansa.nrf.ac.za)- and studied by scholars like French sociologists
Jacques Gaillard and Jean-Baptiste Meyer (1996) or Colombian expert in applied
mathematics Jorge Charum, that the term diaspora becomes more generally
used to refer to a new kind of link between states and expat~iates. Between 1994
and 1998, several authors looked into the transformation of the brain drain and
the progressive implementation (with the help of the new technologies of
information and communication) of some new forms of 'scientific migration' that
could be understood within a brand-new conceptual paradigm, the brain gain,
according to which highly skilled migration poses a clear opportunity for
developing countries (Meyer & Charum, 1994; Gaillard eta/, 1995; Gaillard &
Meyer, 1996). But brain gain is not an entirely new concept; in the late 1960s, it
referred to the gain that highly skilled migration from developing countries
represented for the developed world- that is, the exact inverse of what it means

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today. And in this context of brain gain, new words and expressions have been
born, such as 'scientific diasporas', 'scientific and technical diasporas', or
'intellectual diasporas' (Kaplan, 1997). The phrase 'network diaspora' refers to
networks such as the Red Caldas (Gaillard eta/, 1995, 64), while the formula 'diaspora
option' has been used since 1994 by Jean-Baptiste Meyer and Jorge Charum to
propound an 'innovative approach t}]at implies reconnecting communities of
nationals/researchers living abroad with the national scientific community around
common-interest scientific activities' (Gaillard & Meyer, 1996, 338). This idea was
more widely diffused into the international scholarly community with the
publication of a collective article in which the diaspora option was defined more
precisely (Meyer eta/, 1997, 287; see also Meyer, 2001):
The diaspora option is the most recent policy that has come under full
implementation in regards to migrations ofhighly qualified human resources.
As a brain gain strategy it differs from the return option in the sense that it
does not aim at the physical repatriation of ... nationals living and working
abroad. Its purpose is the remote mobilisation of the diaspora's resources
and ... [its] association to the country of origin's programmes [sic]. Scientists
and engineers may stay wherever they are; what matters is that they work for
their mother ... [country] in some way. This is done through ... formal,
institutionally organised, networking.
Jean-Baptiste Meyer is, therefore, a prominent figure in the shaping of this
new version of diaspora. In a short conceptual article, he relies on his knowledge
of a nascent 'Diaspora Studies' and, in particular, of the conceptual differences
between the centred and de-territorialised versions to enunciate his own vision
of diaspora, based on what he calls a 'triple turn' (Meyer, 2003) or triple change:
first, an 'empirical tum', as he focuses mostly on the reality and functioning of
scientific networks ; second, an 'epistemological turn', as 'scientific and technical
diasporas are both, and at the same time, characterised by network connectivity
and by their link to the country or the state'; and third, a 'normative turn', since
the study of these networks aims at providing states with an expertise that may
allow them to rely on their expatriates. This 'triple turn' (triple change: new
actors, a new definition of the word, and a new kind of research) offers diaspora
a very different visibility, one that is bound to grow. As the editors of the special
issue of the International Journal on Multi-Cultural Societies about 'Trans-
National Knowledge through Diaspora Networks' put it (Mahroum & De
Guchteneire, 2006, 2):
. . . it is increasingly recognised that diasporas, and diaspora knowledge

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networks in particular, may contribute to the benefit of the migration process:

in receiving countries by providing valuable international linkages that bring
new ideas and skills, in migrant-source countries by strengthening ties with
their emigrants abroad, and last, but not least, to the migrants themselves by
giving them a platform for exchange of experiences and valuable contacts for
their professional and private lives.
A new version of diaspora is thus synthesised, a version in which the
replacement of loss by gain, of trauma by asset, of nostalgia by commitment, and
of a mere centro-peripheric relationship by rhizomatic connectivity finds a new
meaning in relation to the state. This third approach could be said to be articulating
the two earlier versions of diaspora rather than trying to find a middle way. It is
taken quite seriously that new relations to space have been developing since the
rise of the new technologies of information aijd communication. Therefore, diaspora
can mean more than statelessness, or livirl.g united without the state; it includes
the possibility of a link that may exist and linger without the necessary horizon of
home-coming. Ifthe 'diaspora option' or the economic mechanism of a 'diaspora
bond' mainly concerns the economy, the link established between states and 'their
diasporas' is no more limited to that sphere alone, as state agencies and, more
recently, international organisations have engaged with the development or
favouring of policies that encompass expatriates and their descendants into a
definition of the nation.
Extra-Territorial and Over-State Nations
Globalisation has often been seen as the end of the nation-state, because state
boundaries can no longer function as the walls of a national container, so to speak.
The emergence of a whole range of financial, economic, informational, and human
flows has made boundaries rather porous. But this porosity is not necessarily
detrimental to the state as though trans-state phenomena are bound to be non-state
manifestations. Evidence shows that states also go through a 'trans-statisation'
process. If the globalisation process is an open spatialisation of economic, political,
cultural, and social relations, it also enables state capacities to operate beyond their
borders. The evolutions that have taken place in some countries over the last 30
years certainly point to the fact that the relationship of the state (as a historical
political phenomenon) to space and distance is changing: being 'out of sight' is not
necessarily tantamountto being 'out of mind' (Dufoix eta/, 20 I 0).
During the last few decades, a variety of 'mental locks' that made it difficult for
migrants and their descendants to remain within the realm of the home nation have

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been unlocked: for instance, the greater acceptance of visions of ethnicity that
allow for migrants and their children to maintain a cultural link with their original
homeland, as well as the establishment by many states of active policies dealing
with expatriates. Through the latter, it is postulated that two distinct transformation
processes of the nation are taking place: its spatialisation beyond the territorial
framework, giving nationals abroad more and more opportunities to belong to the
home nation, thus giving birth to what may be called 'extra-territorial nations'; and
the inclusion within the space of the nation of people living abroad that present the
particularity of not having a link of nationality, but a 'mere link of origin' with the
home state, thus allowing for what may be called 'over-state nations' (Dufoix, 2006).
The nation extends its limits beyond state borders, and the very definition of the
nation and nationality are being transformed, since not only citizens abroad but also
former citizens or descendants of former citizens may still belong to the nation.
Arjun Appadurai (1996) called these new entities 'trans-nations', but this term
appears too ambiguous because of its proximity to 'trans-national', thus making it
more difficult to envision the possibility of a nation that encompasses a space
beyond state borders. They may rather be called 'trans-state nations'. This new
paradigm has certainly never been more clearly presented than by Mexican President
Ponce de Leon in a discourse before the Mexican Federal Congress in May 1995:
'The Mexican nation goes beyond the territory contained by its borders. Therefore,
an essential element of the "Mexican national program[ me]" will be to promote the
constitutional and legal amendments designed for Mexicans to retain their nationality'
(quoted in Vargas, 1996, 3-4).
Quite often it has been thought that the development of 'engagement policies'
towards expatriates was the privilege of developing countries only (see, for instance,
Levitt & De Ia Dehesa, 2003; 0stergaard-Nielsen, 2003). Likewise, the use of diaspora
to describe these populations of nationals, or of people of national origin abroad,
would be the prerogative of non-industrialised and non-Western countries. That
was certainly true until quite recently. But there is evidence of evolution in this
respect, both in relation to the development of emigrant policies in Western states
(Dufoix, 2006 & 20 I 0; Gam len, 2008) and to the widespread use of diaspora by
Western countries- Dufoix, 20 I 0 & 2012 (forthcoming). For instance, an official
'Summit of European Diasporas' that assembled the representatives of24 European
states was held in June 2003 in Thessalonica at the invitation of the Greek Foreign
Ministry. Its aim was to raise awareness of this issue and 'to focus attention on the
importance of Europe's diasporas, the role they can play in EU [European Union]
policy development, and to begin a process that will lead to stronger EU-diaspora

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ties' (SED, 2003, 2). Moreover, the comparative study report issued by the European
Confederation of Europeans Throughout the World (ECETW, 2004, 39), and
sponsored by the European Commission, called for the inclusion by any EU member
state of legal provisions concerning the voting rights in national elections for any
citizen living abroad:
There is a need for the member states and the EU institutions to formally
recognise in all appropriate instruments, the solidarity with expatriate
European citizens, wherever they are found in the world and to fully recognise
the resource: economic, cultural, educational, social, linguistic ... which the
expatriates represent for the countries and for Europe.
States such as Australia have recently started to explore opportunities for building
stronger bridges with their diasporas, thus slightly changing the definition of the
country itself, making it not only a country of immigration but also a country of
emigration. This recognition of the place expatriates occupy in the frame of the nation
can even go further when people of national origin come to be included in the defmition
of the diaspora (Hugo, 2006). This intimate link between diaspora and the development
of specific policies aimed at keeping track with all those who have or used to have a
link to the nation is certainly best seen in the recent project of a 'Scottish diaspora
policy' as proposed by Alasdair Rutherford (see Table). His typology eloquently
shows how diaspora in itselfbecomes the key, since any kind of migration (from or to
Scotland) or relationship can be described in terms of the diaspora.
Table
Typology ofDiaspora Groups with a Link to Scotland
Overseas Diaspora Groups
Lived Diaspora- made up of individuals who have spent some part of their life
living in Scotland; they may originate in Scotland, or be from another country, but
they have first-hand experience of Scotland and Scottish culture from time spent
resident in Scotland.
• Individuals born in Scotland
• Individuals who have lived and worked in Scotland
• Individuals who have lived and studied in Scotland
Allcestral Diaspora- made up of individuals who can trace their heritage to Scotland;
they could be second-generation migrants, or of ancient historical descent, but they
draw a strong link to Scotland as part oftheir family history; however, they have not
lived in Scotland, and so may not have first-hand experience of the country and
culture beyond being a visitor.

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• Individuals descended from Scottis)l nationals

• Individuals descended from the lived diaspora
• Individuals with historical descent
Affinity Diaspora- made up of individuals who make a connection to Scotland,
without drawing a direct family link to the country; this may be through extended
family, or through close contact with other active diaspora groups; it could result
from a tourist visit or short stay, or because of a creative or cultural interest, such as
music or art; this group would not be included within the traditional definition of
diaspora, but their link to Scotland provides a justification to consider them here.
• Individuals with a direct or indirect connection to Scotland
• Friends/Extended family
• Tourism or short stays
• Arts/Music/Education
Domestic Diaspora Groups
Reverse Diaspora- made up of individuals who have moved to Scotland and made
it their home, whether on a permanent or medium-term basis; if they leave again in
future, then they will become lived diaspora; these individuals may also be members
of a foreign diaspora.
Returning Diaspora- made up of individuals who were members of an overseas
diaspora group, but have now returned to live in Scotland; these may have been lived
or ancestral diaspora.
• Members of the diaspora who return to live in Scotland
New Diaspora - made up of individuals who are the opposite of the returning
diaspora, who are planning to move overseas on a temporary or permanent basis;
having been resident in Scotland, they will then become members of the lived diaspora
when they move overseas.
• Scots who are planning to move overseas

Source: Alasdair Rutherford. 2009 Engaging the Scottish Diaspora: Rationale, Benefits and
Challenges (Scottish Government Social Research; available on http://www.scotland.gov.uk/
socialresearch), pp 2-5.
The affinity between the term 'diaspora' with all its stratified meanings, and the
multifaceted transformations of the worlds ofidentity and space and their interpretation
in the social sciences, made it possible for the word to go beyond mere conceptual
usage. Imported from the social sciences by community leaders, civil servants,
journalists, and webmasters, this practical usage resulted in its increasing capacity to
embrace more and more populations and situations. Now, having become a 'global
word' that fits the 'global world', it may be used without any precaution or definition.
Its conceptualisation made it available to politicians and statesmen: its usage even

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becoming institutionalised within the framework of state policies, diaspora being

increasingly used for the very name of national populations or populations of national
origin living abroad. If some states had already designed and implemented some of
these policies between the 1970s and the 1990s (among them China, India, Armenia,
Ireland, to cite but a few), they were now included in an international framework that
became almost compulsory for more and more states.
Diaspora as 'Best Practice'
The last 10 years have witnessed the increasing role of international organisations,
in particular the World Bank and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM),
in the appropriation of the concept of' diaspora' from the social sciences. Relying
mostly on previous conceptual works by Robin Cohen (1997), Steven Vertovec
(1997), Kim Butler (200 I), Anupam Chander (200 I) or Michele Reis (2004), experts
from the World Bank and the 10M seized upon the term and made 'diaspora policies'
a specific dimension of the best practices which newly independent or emerging
states are now almost expected to implement. And within this developing expertise,
another new definition of diaspora emerges. In this respect, the term encapsulates
many aspects: expatriate populations (possessing citizenship of the homeland, or
being of national origin) that states now have to take into consideration, and for
which they are strongly advised to implement specific policies aimed at embracing
them more efficiently into the space of the nation; the organisation of meetings
(forums) between the state and the diaspora; the election of representatives ofthe
diaspora to sit in national assemblies; the implementation of voting rights from
abroad; the possibility of dual nationality or dual citizenship; and investment facilities
into national economies, to name a few.
The international bureaucratic lexicon has appropriated diaspora with a new
conception that articulates both the existence of a territorial centre and the presence
abroad of expatriate populations that may contribute to the development of the
homeland without being requested to return. This conception goes even beyond
nationality, thus acknowledging the growing importance of a 'double consciousness'
and dual loyalties. Experts define diaspora in a recent, undoubtedly post-2008,
document (10M. undated, I) as follows:
There is no single accepted definition ofthe term "diaspora", neither is there
a legal recognition of the term which, consequently, has given rise to many
different meanings and interpretations. The term "diasporas" conveys the
idea of trans-national populations, living in one place, while still maintaining
relations with their homelands, being both "here" and "there" .... [It] refers

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to expatriate groups which, in contrast to "migrants", applies also to expatriate

populations abroad and generations born abroad to foreign parents who are
or may be citizens of their countries of residence.
Progressively, therefore, a growing number of multilateral agencies- not only the 10M
and the World Bank, but also the United Nations (UN) and the EU- have taken on the
term 'diaspora' as a sign of a positive link between migration and development. If it seems
almost impossible to identifY the various phases of imposing this obligation, perhaps it can
be perceived as the outcome of sevefal interdependent and simultaneous processes: the
complex conceptualisation ofdiaspora and its widespread diffusion in the scholarly world;
the transforn1ation of the vision of emigration through the shift from brain drain to brain
gain, and the rise of the 'diaspora option' from the mid-1990s; and successful attempts by
states to find solutions for not only maintaining relations with expatriates, but also stimulating
their own economic development- and, fmally, an opportunity that presents multilateral
agencies with a new perspective on economic development, a solution that makes it less
dependent on Western countries and more on expatriates from developing countries,
while at the same time making it possible to promote discourses on democracy by
implementing new policies that take due cognisance of the political rights of emigrants.
Each of these processes may rely on its own logic, they are interrelated through the work
ofprofessionals and experts, and their intermediary role makes the diffusion ofthe concept
ofdiaspora particularly powerful as it fits almost seamlessly into a globalised world. It also
provides an analytic franlework and, therefore, potential solutions to experts working for
Western countries or multilateral agencies, who may be interested in incorporating it into
their lexicon as a new form ofpopulation management that might work to their advantage. As
soon as it enters the list of best practices it is spread not only to 'emergent states', but also
to Western countries - which, ironically, become dependent on the lexicon they impose
on others. Emergent states take an interest in this, since they see it as a way to obtain more
funding from international organisations, and as a new kind of policy that may expand their
influence abroad via 'their diasporas'; there are numerous instances ofthe 10M organising
workshops to assist 'new states' in building bridges with their diasporas.
There are several arenas in (institutions and events at) which such best practices
in 'diaspora engagement' are being designed, and they stand at the intersection of the
worlds of scholarship, international expertise, and public policy. One such institution
is the National Institute for Regional and Spatial Analysis (NIRSA) at the University of
Mainooth in Ireland, headed by geographers Delphine Ancien, Mark Boyle and Rob
Kitchin, who co-authored two studies on the 'diaspora strategy' oflreland and Scotland
(Ancien-! eta/, 2009;Ancien-3 eta/, 2009). From 26 to 28 January 2009, they organised
an international workshop in Mainooth, entitled 'Exploring Diaspora Strategies', the

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The Rise and Progress of Extra-Territorial and Over-State Nations

objectives of which were the following (Ancien- I eta/, 2009, 4):

... to further develop "networks" of policy-makers, researchers and academics
for improved sharing of practice; to foster dialogue, perhaps leading to policy
transfer; to update developments in diaspora policy and thinking; to bring
new countries and new people into the conversation; [and] to reflect upon
possible ways to move the policy and research agendas forward.
Participants in the workshop came from diverse backgrounds: scholars, like geographer
Alan Gam len; experts from the World Bank, s•1ch as economists Yevgeny Kuznetsov
and Lev Freinkman; officials of government ministries or agencies specialising in
expatriate policies (India, Lithuania, Ireland, and Jamaica); and leaders of'scientific
and technical diasporas', like those from Kea (New Zealand) or GlobalScot (Scotland).
As the workshop organisers put it:
The "Exploring Diaspora Strategies" workshop sought to explore in detail
how different countries have started to formulate and implement diaspora
strategies. It brought together key policy-makers and implementers from
Australia, Chile, India, Ireland, Jamaica, Lithuania, New Zealand and Scotland,
plus the World Bank, to share their experiences and to consider what
constitutes best practice with respect to the development and roll-out of
diaspora strategies depending on context and circumstance.
Indeed, the diversity of participants is at the very heart of the programme of
diaspora strategies, since it is based on a constant interaction between politics,
scholarship, trans-state networks, and multilateral agencies. A diaspora strategy is
defmed as (Ancien-! eta/, 2009, 3-4):
... an explicit and systematic policy initiative or series of policy initiatives
aimed at developing and managing relationships with a diaspora. These
policy initiatives are diverse in nature and need not be over-determined. As
such they can vary from highly formalised and structured programmes to
projects that are quite light in conception and application. A diaspora strategy
is, perhaps, best thought of then as an overarching framework for providing
a level of coherence to the range of diaspora policies devised and implemented
by a variety of agencies.
A diaspora strategy possesses both practical and systematic features. It can,
therefore, be graphically represented (Ancien-2 eta/, 2009, I), shaped like a wheel
that:
... [works] as a checklist for policy-makers currently formulating and rolling
out diaspora strategies. It identifies eight policy spokes around a set of five

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 14 I Stephane Dufoix

challenges at the hub [see Figure 1]. Clearly, in practice some spokes overlap
with others. Within each policy spoke a set ofkey considerations and critical
measures are identified. Work is currently being undertaken to specify a
range of concrete indicators and benchmarks of progress within each spoke.
Figure 1

Source: Ancien-2 et at. 2009 The NJRSA Diaspora Strategy Wheel and Ten Principles of Good
Practice, June; available on the NIRSA website: http://www.nuim.ie/nirsaldiaspora/PDFs/
NIRSA%20Diaspora%20Strategy%20Wheel. pdf, pl.
Another of these arenas was the Global Forum for Migration and Development
(GFMD), founded in 2007. The first meeting in Brussels in 2007 included a roundtable on
the remittances of migrants, and the 2008 event in Manila had a session devoted to how
states could usefully harness their diasporas for the development of their countries. But
the decisive step was taken at the Athens meeting in November 2009. As one is reminded
in the background papers for the roundtable on the role diasporas could play in the
migration-development nexus, the first two meetings of the GFMD had designed a
common working definition of a diaspora as 'composed of individuals originating from
one country, living outside this country irrespective of their citizenship or nationality
who, individually or collectively, are or could be willing to contribute to the development
of this country. Descendants of these individuals are also included in this defmition [of
diaspora]' (IOM, 2009, 2). Thus the focus has now shifted to designing the best practices
that should be implemented by countries, as is shown in a common determination to
construct diaspora engagement into a unique and homogeneous framework presented
as a 'road map' (see Figure 2).

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 From Nationals Abroad to 'Diaspora ': I 15
The Rise and Progress ofExtra-Territorial and Over-State Nations

Figure 2
A Road Map for Diaspora Engagement

Identify goals and capacities

(eg, investment, knowledge,
remittances)

Effective engagement of
diaspora in development

Source: GFMD (Global Forum on Migration and Development). 2009 Engaging Diasporas and
Migrants in Development Policies and Programmes: Their Role? Their Constraints? (Background
Paper for the Second Session of Roundtable I, Global Forum on Migration and Development,
Athens, 4 and 5 November), p 6 (very minor editorial changes have been made); original in Agunias,
Dovelynn R (ed). 2009 Closing the Distance: How Governments Strengthen Ties with their Diasporas,
Washington, DC: Migration Policy Institute - copyright © Migration Policy Institute 2009.

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 16 I Stephane Dufoix

Another step in the global diaspora strategy was the conduct of censuses or
audits on various case-experiences in order to gather more information about what
states have been doing (up to that point in time) regarding their diasporas, and to be
able to suggest possible amendments to, and improvements on, their interactions.
In 2005, the 10M released a first survey of policies targeting diasporas as agents for
development, in which diasporas were defined as ethnic people and populations
that left their countries of origin, as well as individuals and/or members of networks
that maintain links with their countries oforigin (see IDM, 2005, 193-251 ). During the
2009 GFMD meeting, at the initiative of The Netherlands, Switzerland, and Mexico,
an invitation was extended to countries to participate in developing a 'Handbook on
Engaging Diaspora in Development: Activities in Host and Home Countries'.
Responses to this survey were received in early 20 II, and the results are likely to be
the first bricks in a stronger platform, determining the content of future global diaspora
strategies. 1
Conclusion
This convergence of a current trend, the more efficient and 'warmer embrace' by
countries of their expatriates by way of various channels of communication and
contact, and an ancient word (diaspora) that has become a contemporary concept is
not bound to diverge, for it is the product of 'elective affinities' in a context of
distance-shrinking and globalisation. Very recent events show that both 'my diaspora
policies' (countries of origin organising their relationships with their diasporas) and
'their diaspora policies' (destination or host countries organising their relationships
with the diasporas within their borders) will certainly become more and more
important.
In May 2011, on the occasion of a Global Diaspora Forum held in Washington,
DC, the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (2011) launched the International
Diaspora Engagement Alliance (IDEA) as a part of US foreign policy by declaring
that: 2
... more than 60 million Americans are first- or second-generation members
of the diaspora community, and that's a lot of potential. And we need to
expand and deepen what's already going on. I know that there is so much
that is an ongoing part of the daily lives of the communities that you come
from.
This initiative was launched in partnership with the Migration Policy Institute (MPI)
which operates on the border between the academic and policy realms. Interestingly,
the MPI is also participating in a parallel initiative, namely the creation of a diaspora

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The Rise and Progress of Extra-Territorial and Over-State Nations

matters website (www.diasporamatters.com), where information related to diaspora

policies can be accessed, from short texts on recent experiences to academic reference
articles and papers from experts explaining how diaspora strategies can be set up
and implemented. Functioning at the intersection of academia, expertise and politics,
it is bound to play a major role in this new field of global public policy, no doubt also
presenting a perfect arena for future sociological studies.

Notes
1 See http://www.gfmd.org/en/pfp/md-calls-for-action/handbook-on-engaging-diaspora-in-
development-activities-in-host-and-home-countries-call-for-input.html.
' See also http://diasporaalliance.org.

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