Engaging Diasporas in Development and State-Building: The Role of the Kurdish Diaspora and Returnees in Rebuilding the Kurdistan Region of Iraq

Abstract

Diasporas can play an important part in contemporary social processes, either via remittances, investment, skills transfer, diaspora philanthropy or political influence. Currently, many states establish diaspora ministries or sub-committees under existing institutions to connect with their diaspora and tap their resources for development in the homeland. This paper contributes to this literature on the diaspora-homeland nexus by focusing on the Iraqi Kurdish diaspora and returnees. The paper analyzes the intricacies of diaspora and returnee involvement in state-building in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq by discussing their capabilities and expectations as well as the tensions between the diaspora and the homeland.

Diaspora as socio‐material assemblage: Political agency in the Kurdish freedom movement's representations of homeland

“…Diasporas are increasingly seen as geopolitical actors (Dumont, 2011; Gamlen, 2019), due to their engagement with conflict (Başer 2015a; Féron and Lefort, 2019; Koinova, 2018; Smith and Stares, 2007; Toivanen and Başer, 2020; Voytiv, 2021), development (Başer, 2019; Başer and Toivanen, 2019b; Newland and Tanaka, 2010; Syrett and Keles, 2019), lobbying (Berkowitz and Mügge, 2014), mediation (Başer and Swain, 2008; Başer and Toivanen, 2019a), diplomacy (Ho and McConnell, 2022; Kennedy, 2022), transnational justice (Koinova and Karabegović, 2017; Orjuela, 2018) and many other political activities involving a transnational spatiality.…”

“…, development (Başer, 2019;Başer and Toivanen, 2019b;Newland and Tanaka, 2010;Syrett and Keles, 2019), lobbying (Berkowitz and Mügge, 2014), mediation (Başer and Swain, 2008;Başer and Toivanen, 2019a), diplomacy (Ho and McConnell, 2022;Kennedy, 2022), transnational justice (Koinova and Karabegović, 2017;Orjuela, 2018) and many other political activities involving a transnational spatiality.…”