The Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS)

Project description

Mass refugee movements induced by conflict have contributed to the transformation of global society, particularly since the end of the Cold War. Substantial new diasporas have consolidated from these movements: the new social formations appear to be enduring and have undertaken a variety of forms of transnational activity, shaping both the societies in which diaspora find themselves and their home communities and societies.

There has been a general shift in perception from ascribing diasporas a negative influence in fomenting and supporting conflict (as ‘war mongers’ or ‘peace-wreckers’) to the more positive view that they can assist with relief, peace-building, recovery and post-conflict reconstruction (as ‘peace-makers’ or ‘peace-builders’). As is often the case, the reality is between the two, and the balance of forms of engagement shifts over time and according to circumstances. I will explore the kind of community and society that may emerge from diaspora formation and engagement in conflict and post conflict settings.

Key research questions

The project will trace the emergence of diasporas formed as a result of flight from conflict in terms of their socio-economic make-up, cohort/time of arrival, immigration status, and class, ethnic, generational, gender and other social cleavages, all of which shape diaspora members’ capacity for engagement.

The focus is on Sri Lanka and in particular three spheres of diaspora engagement:

• the private individual or household sphere
• the community sphere
• the political sphere

The research will cover three linked areas:

• The formation of the Sri Lankan diaspora(s)
• The engagement of the diaspora in the course of the conflict
• The shape of diaspora engagement since the end of the civil war in 2009

Work will interrogate the relationship between structure and agency; between force and choice in migration; between the local and global; and between material life and identity politics. This will draw on debates on livelihoods in conflict, on networks, social capital and class, on social transformation, and on how power shifts and travels through local and global dispensations.

Methodology

The project will involve fieldwork in Sri Lanka, and in India, the UK and Canada, each of which is the location of substantial Sri Lankan diaspora communities. Research methods will include interviews among extended families and communities in Sri Lanka and in the diaspora to capture the range of forms and densities of linkages, as well as interpretation of statistical and other quantitative data. In Sri Lanka the project will include communities that have different degrees of connection with these diaspora locations. Diaspora communities will be profiled to establish and map their socio-economic conditions, experiences of conflict, linkages with home communities, and perceptions and engagement with home country in the past and currently.