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Diaspora Politics: At Home Abroad Gabriel Sheffer |
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This book is intended
to fill a gap in the study of modern ethno-national diasporas. Against the
background of current trends - globalization, regionalization,
democratization, the weakening of the nation-state,
and massive trans-state migration- it examines the politics of historical,
modern, and incipient ethno-national diasporas. It argues that in contrast to
widely accepted view, ethno-national diasporism and
diasporas do not constitute a recent phenomenon. Rather, this is a
long-standing phenomenon whose roots are in the antiquity. Some of the
existing diasporas were created in the antiquity, some during the Middle
Ages, and some in modern times. Essential aspects of this phenomenon are the unending
cultural-social-economic struggles and especially the political struggles of
these dispersed ethnic groups, permanently residing in host countries away
from their homelands, to maintain distinctive identities and connections with
their homelands and other dispersed groups from the same nations. While
describing and analyzing the diaspora phenomenon,
the book sheds light on theoretical questions pertaining to current ethnicity
and politics in general. Gabriel Sheffer is Professor of Political Science at the
Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Recipient of the Prime Minister's Prize for
Political Biography, he frequently contributes to Israeli and foreign
magazines and newspapers. He has published extensively on ethno-national
diasporas, the Jewish diaspora, and Israeli
politics and foreign policy. Among other books, he is the author of Moshe Sharett: Biography of a Political Moderate and editor
of Modern Diasporas in International Politics. |
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