- 11 Oct 2012
NATION STATE DIASPORA POLITICS AND TRANSNATIONALISM – ADVANTAGES, RISKS AND FUTURE POSSIBILITIES
ABSTRACT
Diaspora represents the imperfection of the nation state. People who are outside the state but inside the nation are playing a greater role in international politics, conflict resolution, economic growth and the shaping of religious identities. The role of diasporas is essential for understanding the limitation of the state system as well as its durability. Professor Shain’s lecture will highlight the various aspects of diaspora politics, including those related to diasporas which reside in the ‘near abroad’ as well as diasporas which are ‘far removed’ from the country of origin or symbolic homeland. He will explain how diasporas operate in the context of liberal states – in particular, the US – and how they navigate their politics and mobilize by home countries in other political entities. Professor Shain has written several seminal books on the subject and is recognized as the world leader in this field. He has been a main debater of the late Samuel Huntington on the subject.
About the Speakers
Yossi Shain is Professor of Political Science at Tel Aviv University as well as Professor of Comparative Government and Diaspora Politics at Georgetown University. He earned his BA in Philosophy (1981) and MA in Political Science (1983) from Tel Aviv University, and received his Ph.D. in Political Science from Yale University in 1988. Outside academia, he has served on national and international committees related to Diaspora and migration policies, security and human rights, and the Jewish World. He also worked with NGOs and Governmental agencies in Israel, the US, Mexico, and Russia and with research groups attached to the United Nations. Prof Shain received the American Political Science Association’s Helen Dwight Reed Award for best doctoral dissertation in International Politics, International Fulbright award, and Israel’s Allon Fellowship for distinguished young scholars. He also received fellowships from the Social Science Research Council and other American, Swiss, French and German foundations for his work on nationalism, ethnicity and Diaspora politics. Prof Shain is the author and editor of eight books, amongst which is: Marketing the American Creed Abroad: Diasporas in the U.S. and Their Homelands (Cambridge University Press, 1999) was awarded the 2000 Best Book of the Year Prize by the Israeli Political Science Association. His latest book The Language of Corruption and Israel’s Moral Culture received national acclaim when it appeared in Hebrew in 2010 (an English edition is forthcoming).
Event Details
Tower Block Level 2, Bukit Timah Campus
National University of Singapore
469A Bukit Timah Road, Singapore 259770
