Key Criteria of "Good Practice" for Constructive Diaspora Engagement in Peacebuilding

This discussion paper focuses on the engagement of diasporas in peacebuilding processes in their countries of origin. The main argument put forward in this paper is that, given certain conditions, diasporas carry a potential to fruitfully engage in the field of peacebuilding. After substantiating this claim with a critical discussion of literature and research insight, the issue is further addressed by identifying and collating a set of key criteria of “good practice” for constructive diaspora engagement. This is to help third parties identify diaspora organisations and groups that have the potential to engage transparently and in long-term processes, while also presenting the capacity to foster the resolution, transformation and management of conflicts in their respective countries of origin. In an endeavour to strengthen cooperation between diaspora organisations and other actors, the aim of this discussion paper is therefore to offer to International Agencies, the European Union and its member states, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and other stakeholders an indicative tool that will assist them in the identification of potential cooperation partners within the diaspora community to work together in conflict settings. Given the particularly sensitive nature of interventions in this field, the suggested criteria take into account factors that are generally related to collaboration with diaspora organisations, as well as factors that take into account a specific concern for their engagement in peacebuilding. In addition, it is hoped that the criteria may also facilitate purposeful self-reflection among diaspora groups on how they operate and on new potential areas for engagement in their countries of origin

Diasporas as partners in conflict resolution and peacebuilding

This paper explores the topic of collaboration between diasporas and governmental and non-governmental actors in peacebuilding and post-conflict reconstruction initiatives. Its purpose is to identify key policy recommendations for external parties wishing to establish working relationships with diasporas specifically in these fields. The paper therefore mainly targets an audience of policy makers, however the considerations in the pages that follow will be of interest also to other practitioners in the development field as well as to diaspora groups themselves. The paper is based on data collected within the DIASPEACE research project, analysing how external actors and diaspora groups interact in peacebuilding initiatives. The results discussed in this paper derive from data collected in five European countries (Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Finland) and focus on the specific case-study of diasporas originating from the Horn of Africa

Immigrazione Senegalese in Italia: stato dell¿arte

È trascorso ormai circa un trentennio da quando i primi immigrati senegalesi giungevano in Italia nella seconda metà degli anni Ottanta. Nel corso di questi tre decenni, essi hanno stabilmente rappresentato la presenza straniera più significativa in provenienza dall’Africa subsahariana. È questo, tuttavia, forse l’unico dato costante, dal momento che in questo arco di tempo non solo la presenza senegalese in Italia è notevolmente cresciuta in termini numerici, ma si è altresì accompagnata a profonde trasformazioni nelle caratteristiche e nei percorsi migratori, nelle dinamiche associative, nelle traiettorie di inserimento nel territorio e nel mercato del lavoro locale da parte dei singoli. Ormai lontani dal modello unitario del migrante dedito alla vendita ambulante e appartenente alla confraternita mussulmana senegalese dei murid, i percorsi di radicamento dei senegalesi nella realtà italiana offrono oggi uno spaccato ben più ricco e diversificato. Questo quadro generale rende particolarmente gradita la comparsa nelle librerie di alcuni recenti volumi frutto di contributi di ricerca sui senegalesi in Italia. I quattro libri illustrati qui di seguito costituiscono un importante corpus di lavori che da un lato fotografa i tratti salienti dell’evoluzione vissuta dall’immigrazione senegalese in Italia e, dall’altro, offre utili spunti di riflessione per la sua migliore comprensione

Participation of Diasporas in Peacebuilding and Development

This handbook follows a range of other reports and publications on diaspora involvement in development and peacebuilding (COWI, 2009; De Haas, 2006; GTZ, 2009; Sinatti, 2010; Sinatti et al., 2010). It has been written mainly for European practitioners and policymakers, and was developed as a result of our observation that there is now a markedly increased interest among European actors in ‘engaging diasporas’ that is not necessarily matched with confidence on how to approach the task. During our research for the handbook, a common refrain that we heard was: ‘Our organization is very interested in engaging the diaspora, but we need to gain experience on how to do this.’ In this document, examples are presented from various projects within five European countries: Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Norway. In these countries, most diaspora-focused initiatives are relatively recent. By bringing together lessons learned from the experiences in these five countries, we hope the present document will facilitate an exchange of knowledge and experience between different European actors

Zingonia: vecchi e nuovi abitanti, vecchie e nuove questioni

Una ricerca mirata ad esplorare alcune delle specifi cità dell’immigrazione straniera nella Provincia di Bergamo non poteva non dedicare un capitolo speciale alla realtà di Zingonia. Una serie di motivi fanno sì che questa città del tutto particolare richiami l’attenzione di chi si occupa di migrazioni. Zingonia infatti è storicamente nata come città d’immigrazione e accoglie oggi un addensamento signifi cativo e multi-nazionale di popolazione straniera. Oggetto di grande attenzione mediatica, Zingonia è anche un luogo fortemente associato, nell’opinione comune, a stereotipi negativi. Più che le ragioni appena esposte, tuttavia, è la sua natura di forte rompicapo per gli amministratori locali che giustifi ca un’attenzione speciale per Zingonia

Photography, care and the visual economy of Gambian transatlantic kinship relations

This article examines transnational kinship relations between Gambian parents in the United Kingdom and their children and carers in The Gambia, with a focus on the production, exchange and reception of photographs. Many Gambian migrant parents in the U.K. take their children to The Gambia to be cared for by extended family members. Mirroring the mobility of Gambian migrants and their children, as they travel between the U.K. and The Gambia, photographs document changing family structures and relations. It is argued that domestic photography provides insight into the representational politics, values and aesthetics of Gambian transatlantic kinship relations. Further, the concept of the moral economy supports a hermeneutics of Gambian family photographic practice and develops our understanding of the visual economy of transnational kinship relations in a number of ways: it draws attention to the way in which the value attributed to a photograph is rooted in shared moral and cultural codes of care within transnational relations of inequality and power; it helps us to interpret Gambian’s responses to and treatment of family photographs; and it highlights the importance attributed to portrait photography and the staging, setting and aesthetics of photographic content within a Gambian imaginary

Imagining ‘non-nationality’: Cosmopolitanism as a source of identity and belonging

Current literature tends to see cosmopolitan identity formation as an individual endeavour of developing a stance of openness, and transcending discourses of national and other cultural identities. This article challenges the essentialism inherent in this model by proposing a different framing of cosmopolitan identity formation that shifts the focus to how people collectively mobilize cosmopolitanism as a resource for cultural identity construction. The article is based on an anthropological study of transnational professionals who are part of a diverse expatriate community in Amsterdam. The analysis shows how these professionals draw on cosmopolitanism to define themselves as ‘non-nationals’. This involves downplaying national affiliations and cultural differences while also marking national identity categories and ‘cultural features’ to maintain the difference they collectively embrace. This however does not imply openness to all otherness. Boundary drawing to demarcate the cosmopolitan ‘us’ in relation to national (mono)culture is equally important. The article argues that cosmopolitan identities are socially accomplished as particular modes of collective belonging that are part of – not beyond – a global discursive sphere of identity politics