Chinese Journal of Sociology ›› 2012, Vol. 32 ›› Issue (4): 194-213.

• Articles • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Rising of Diaspora Research and Its Trends

ZHU Jingcai   

  1. School of Humanities and Law,Nanchang Hangkong University
  • Online:2012-07-20 Published:2012-07-20
  • Contact: ZHU Jingcai E-mail:legend20112@yahoo.com.cn
  • About author:ZHU Jingcai
  • Supported by:

    The article is an achievement of the research project of “Comparative Study on Jewish American and Chinese American Diaspora Literature and Their Translations” (20102226), which is granted by Tianjin Municipal Educational Committee for humanities and social sciences research of institutions of higher learning.

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Abstract:

 With fast globalization and largescaled transnational population migration, different ethnic groups and cultures exchange, collide, and even conflict with one another, which has shown unprecedented trends in breadth and depth. Diaspora research has thus risen and proliferated. It has stepped into various areas of culturology, anthropology, ethnology, economics, politics, and literature, and all fields are interrelated; nevertheless, diaspora research has the characteristics of the sociology discipline and all branches are related to sociology as ethnic groups, immigration, emigration, refugees, ethnicity, and transnationalism are all major concepts of concern in sociology. Multicultural theories have greatly stimulated the development of diaspora studies and they have become the important theoretical basis for diaspora research. Being the major targets in diaspora studies, diaspora groups are classified into the classic group and the modern group. Distinguishing the two helps depicting the historical frame of diaspora issues and their developmental trends. Immi/Emigrants have a special position among the diaspora groups, with ethnicity being the core of diaspora studies. Transnationalism has become the realistic expression of diaspora as transnational mobility is now the reality that has attracted keen attention in current diaspora studies. Classic diaspora concepts have been changing along with rapid societal changes and diaspora studies are closely related to these changes. Concepts change in meaning, similarities and differences, and interconnections and transformations. Such conceptual changes directly reflect the change trends in reality. The current paper distinguishes the differences in diaspora conceptual changes; discusses the origin, developmental history, and characteristics of diaspora studies; and tries to speculate the future developmental trends in diaspora research.

 

Key words:  diaspora, ethnic group, ethnicity, immigration, multiculturalism, transnationalism