Diaspora : un enjeu politique, un symbole, un concept ?

Abstract

The word 'diaspora' has been fashionable for the last twenty years, particularly in the Anglophone literature. But, as in history, the meaning of the word appeared diverse. This article describes the definitions of the diaspora since the 1980's. It discards the confusion between diaspora and transnationalism easily induced by the economic globalisation and the easiness of communications. It also aims at discarding the confusion between diaspora and forced labour migrations reminding two primordial features of a diaspora in the modern ages: the risk for a population to be exposed to violence and expulsion, its ability to keep at bay the threat by maintaining a community organization through time and boundaries.

Keywords

• black diaspora
• diaspora
• labour diaspora
• transnational network
• nationalism
• remittance