A neo/new diaspora (from Greek διασπορά, "scattering, dispersion") is the displacement, migration, and dispersion of individuals away from their homelands by forces such as globalization, neoliberalism, and imperialism. Such forces create economic, social, political, and cultural difficulties for individuals in their homeland that forces them to displace and migrate.
New/Neo diaspora is a revival or a build upon the standard meaning of diaspora in the sense that it is focused on the cultural, economic, political, and social causes driving it, as well as analyzing the multilocality and self-consciousness developed by the social group. This concept also analyzes the ties within diaspora communities to their native lands, which are expressed through strong political and cultural participation in their ancestral lands. Other significant qualities of new/neo diasporas are the thoughts of return to their native land, relationships with other communities in the diaspora, and lack of full assimilation to the host country.
Origins and development
The concept of neo/new diaspora is explained by Juan Flores in his work The Diaspora strikes Back, by stating that the concept tries to “state what diasporas are, how they are, where they are in time and place , and what sets of relations condition their existence.”
Recently scholars have begun to distinguish between different kinds of diaspora based on its causes such as globalization, neoliberalism, imperialism, or by the multilocality among individuals of the diaspora community and their ties to their native lands.
In his book Flores also references Nicholas Van Hear’s book “New Diasporas” whom identifies the “new” period as the end of the cold War, as of the later 1980s. “Van Hear describes the many unprecedented features of contemporary migration patterns and densities as they issue from revolutionary developments in communications technology and transportation facilities unimagined in earlier historical periods.
Juan Flores and The Diaspora Strikes Back
Juan Flores is a professor at New York University, whose work The Diaspora Strikes Back focuses on the eminent ethnic and cultural studies. Flores flips the process on its head: what happens to the home country when it is being constantly fed by emigrants returning from abroad? He looks at how 'Nuyoricans' (Puerto Rican New Yorkers) have transformed the home country, introducing hip hop and modern New York culture to the Caribbean island. While he focuses on New York and Mayaguez (in Puerto Rico), the model is broadly applicable. Indians introducing contemporary British culture to India; New York Dominicans bringing slices of New York culture back to the Dominican Republic; Mexicans bringing Los Angeles culture (from fast food to heavy metal) back to Guadalajara and Monterrey. This ongoing process is both massive and global, and Flores' novel account will command a significant audience across disciplines.
Flores states, "But probably the closest terminological accompaniment to diaspora in its renewed use is transnationalism, to the point where the 'new diasporas' are commonly referred to as 'transnational diasporas.' The immediate caveat of course is that diasporas are and always have been, by definition, transnational-without transnational relations and deomographic movement there would be no such thing."
Flores notes that one of the most significant differences between a diaspora and a new/neo diaspora “is the intensity and reciprocity of the ties between emigrant or exiled populations and their countries of origin.”
A new understanding of the concept has led scholars to realize that diasporas are not about fixed states of social being, but about processes which begin and develop over time. Flores gives an example that the life of diasporas do not begin when people migrate, but “only when the group develops a consciousness about its new social location and a disposition towards its homeland.”
Examples
Cuban Diaspora
Cubans have had a presence in the United States far before the Cuban diaspora of the 20th century that was created due to economical and political troubles Cuba was facing. To this day there has been more Cuban diasporas due to the establishment of a new government under Fidel Castro after the 1959 Cuban Revolution with a strong upheld. Fidel Castro embraced communism and established a political and economic system which the government controlled the resources forcing some Cubans to migrate.