Diasporas as Translocal Societies

Recent research on religious minorities and religious migrants has made evident that these groups had a rather important impact on historical change in the economy, societies, politics and cultures. The history of (religious) minorities is by no means a history of the margins but central to our understanding of history at large. Could writing the history of religious minorities thus be understood as writing history beyond the nation-state?

Networks of (religious) minorities are central to transnational and translocal exchange: the exchange of goods, ideas and peoples. While traditional research had emphasized the exclusivness of diaspora networks based on trust, intermarriage and close kin and religious ties which brought about economic advantages, we will argue that diaspora networks were by no means exclusive networks. Due to economic interests diaspora networks were established within and without diaspora communities and they were based on “uneasy trust relations”.

More information:
http://hsozkult.geschichte.hu-berlin.de/termine/id=16799