Let it flow

Abstract

The concept of diaspora is applied to all kinds of groups characterized spatially by its links between locality and a ‘homeland’. In this article I will argue that the analytical value of the concept of diaspora could be strengthened by focusing on the third spatial relationship characteristic to diasporas but often neglected: the lateral relationship of individual communities. This essay deals with all three spatial connections and focuses on how diasporic groups can be approached anthropologically. It argues that despite recent claims to pursue a more and more mobile research methodology, in practice these claims often cannot be carried out due to various circumstances that prevent the researcher from being mobile himself. Using my field-research on the Sindhis of Gibraltar, it points out two possible approaches of how stationary anthropological field research still can be carried out in diasporic situations. It shows how relevant space relations both to the diaspora as a whole as well as to India as the mythic land of origin are created, performed, maintained, lived and given sense locally, arguing that both public discourse and counter-narratives about Gibraltar, India and the diasporic web are expressions of various power struggles over spatial and social control.

Coloniality of anti-corruption: Whiteness, disasters, and the US anti-corruption policies in Puerto Rico

“…Muir and Gupta (2018, p. s6) argue that corruption, as a key category of modern political economy, typically indexes the nonmodern. Similarly, Haller and Shore (2005) point out that ideas of corruption and economic backwardness have consistently featured in imperialist and racialized historical narratives that invoke the primitiveness of less-developed states in order to justify colonial interventions. Thus, corruption narratives were, and continue to be, a key technology for justifying the colonialism of non-western societies.…”

Cross-Theoretical Compliance: An Integrative Compliance Analysis of COVID-19 Mitigation Responses in Israel

“…The question why people obey or break rules is studied in different academic domains and for different types of rules. This spans subjects as diverse as tax evasion (in psychology and economics, e.g., Kirchler et al, 2008; Muehlbacher et al, 2011; Wenzel, 2005), street crime (in criminology, e.g., Weisburd, 2015), littering (in psychology, Keizer et al, 2008), environmental crime (e.g., Shover & Routhe, 2005; Yan et al, 2016), white-collar crime (in organizational science, e.g., Pusch & Holtfreter, 2021), and corruption (in anthropology, e.g., Haller & Shore, 2005). Different approaches have resulted in different theories of what shapes compliance.…”