The transnational activism of the stateless Kurdish diaspora and its implications on homeland politics
The transnational activism of stateless diaspora communities for their homeland politics is a topical phenomenon in regional, national, and international politics for the reason that the stateless diaspora communities are serving as a political, diplomatic, cultural and economic lifeline for their homeland politics. Because of a multitude of diaspora activism for homeland politics, 9/11 turned the spotlight on stateless diaspora communities, whose transnational activism for their homeland politics becomes associated with the ‘terrorism’ and national security concerns in host states. In this regard, the stateless diaspora communities are a relevant subject to investigate from different viewpoints.

In order to understand the transnational activism of stateless diaspora communities, and the implication for their homeland politics, it is meaningful to examine their motivation and conditions in the host states. Underlying these approaches, I deal with the transnational activism of the stateless Kurdish diaspora communities in Berlin, Stockholm and London. I do so within the framework of the politics of presence in gateway cities, ‘political opportunity structures’ of host states in connection with the national model of the citizenship policy, recognition and incorporation policy and openness of the institutional alliance and ‘territorially extended nationalism’ of the Kurdish diaspora communities that criticises Benedict Anderson’s ‘long-distance nationalism’ in relation to the ‘unaccountability’ of diaspora activists.

I argue that the local opportunities in gateway cities, attracting diaspora activists and the site of transnational activities in each capital city, have equal impact on the mobilisation of the Kurdish diaspora activists for the issues referring to their co-ethnic communities in the homeland and elsewhere. However, the national model of each host state affects differently the transnational mobilisation of diaspora activists with the transnational orientation at city level in Berlin, Stockholm and London, which shapes accordingly their transnational activism. In terms of their motivation, territorially extended nationalism is evocative and highlights the loyalty, responsibility and commitment of the Kurdish diaspora activists to their homeland politics, the result of their oppression and belonging to their ancestral homeland.
Date: 27 January 2016, 13:00
Venue: Queen Elizabeth House, 3 Mansfield Road OX1 3TB
Venue Details: Seminar Room 3
Speaker: Veysi Dag (Free University of Berlin)
Organising department: Oxford Department of International Development
Organisers: Robtel Neajai Pailey, Yasser Moullan, Jenny Peebles (University of Oxford, Oxford Dept of International Development)
Part of: International Migration Institute Seminar Series
Booking required?: Not required
Booking url: http://www.imi.ox.ac.uk/events/the-transnational-activism-of-the-stateless-kurdish-diaspora-and-its-implications-on-homeland-politics
Audience: Public
Editor: Jenny Peebles