>[Rachel Buff wrote:
I do tend to think that the idea of diaspora
>intentionally problematizes more static definitions of identity.
>Race and ethnicity arise as fixed categories along with the
>nation state; these hierarchies also give meaning to the
concept
>of citizenship. So, to me, particularly in our time when
capital
>is increasingly more mobile, the notion of diaspora suggests a
>more mobile notion of both rights and identity.
>
**One of the problems of many countries' citizenship laws is a
tension between notions of heritage, settled community, and
continuity on the one hand and the understanding that people move
around on the other.
**Another point about diasporae is that much discussion of the
Overseas Chinese contribution to Asia's economic growth neglects
the diaspora experience to pursue an illusory "Confucian Ethic".
The fact is that diaspora peoples (and colonized ones, such as
the Hong Kong Chinese under the UK and the Taiwanese under Japan)
find their elites cut off from political routes of advancement,
and are thus forced to cultivate commerce and the professions
(or, in pre-modern times, craftsmanship). Even in pre-Communist
Mainland China, certain internally dispersed groups such as
Wannan (Southern Anhui) people, Shanxi bankers, and the various
outlanders drawn to Shanghai and the Treaty Ports (TV Soong
descended from Hainanese Hakkas) played a disproportionate role
in the country's economic life.
Peter Jeffrey Herz
pjherz@midwest.net