Diaspora

Immigration & Borders
Written By Cassie

“Diaspora” is often used as a fancy synonym for “immigrants.” That’s too broad to be useful. Diaspora is about dispersion plus durable cross-border connection.

Definition

A diaspora is a population living outside an ancestral or national homeland that maintains ongoing cultural, social, economic, or political connection to that place.

Technical meaning vs common usage

Technical: dispersion plus continuing connection (identity, remittances, institutions, political engagement).
Common usage: any ethnic community in another country.

How the term gets stretched or misused

The term loses meaning when:

  • it’s applied to any foreign-born population without cross-border ties

  • it’s treated as a proxy for legal status (it isn’t)

  • it’s treated as a single political bloc rather than a range of affiliations

Where the power sits

Diaspora becomes civically relevant where institutions treat it as a stakeholder:

  • Origin-country rules: citizenship, consular policy, external voting

  • Host-country rules: participation rights, integration systems

  • Financial infrastructure: remittance access, fees, banking inclusion

This does not mean…

  • Any particular immigration status.

  • A unified political agenda.

  • A plan or intent to return.

Why precision matters

If “diaspora” just means “immigrants,” you lose the ability to describe transnational influence—how money, information, and political engagement cross borders and shape outcomes.

Neutrality note

This definition describes diaspora as a population distribution shaped by migration and transnational ties, not as an endorsement or critique of migration policy, national identity, or political affiliation.

Related HISW

Sources

Sources below explain how diaspora is defined and analyzed in migration and population studies.

  • International Organization for Migration — Glossary on Migration (2019) https://www.iom.int/glossary-migration

  • United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs — International Migration Report (2020) https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/content/international-migration-report-2020

Cassie
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