Diaspora identification and long-distance nationalism among Tamil migrants of diverse state origins in the UK

Jones, Demelza ORCID: 0000-0002-5985-1972 (2014) Diaspora identification and long-distance nationalism among Tamil migrants of diverse state origins in the UK. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 37 (14). pp. 2547-2563. doi:10.1080/01419870.2013.835852

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Abstract

Accounts of Tamil long-distance nationalism have focused on Sri Lankan Tamil migrants. But the UK is also home to Tamils of non-Sri Lankan state origins. While these migrants may be nominally incorporated into a ‘Tamil diaspora’, they are seldom present in scholarly accounts. Framed by Werbner's (2002) conception of diasporas as ‘aesthetic’ and ‘moral’ communities, this article explores whether engagement with a Tamil diaspora and long-distance nationalism is expressed by Tamil migrants of diverse state origins. While migrants identify with an aesthetic community, ‘membership’ of the moral community is contested between those who hold direct experience of suffering as central to belonging, and those who imagine the boundaries of belonging more fluidly – based upon primordial understandings of essential ethnicity and a narrative of Tamil ‘victimhood’ that incorporates experiences of being Tamil in Sri Lanka, India and in other sites, despite obvious differences in these experiences.

Item Type:	Article
Article Type:	Article
Additional Information:	This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Ethnic and Racial Studies on the 7th October 2013, available online: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01419870.2013.835852.
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Tamils; Migration; Diaspora; Long-distance nationalism; Ethnicity; Transnational politics
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) H Social Sciences > HT Communities. Classes. Races
Divisions:	Schools and Research Institutes > School of Business, Computing and Social Sciences
Research Priority Areas:	Place, Environment and Community
Depositing User:	Demelza Jones
Date Deposited:	11 Sep 2018 16:02
Last Modified:	31 Aug 2023 08:25
URI:	https://eprints.glos.ac.uk/id/eprint/5965

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