1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910150189003321

Autore

Betts Alexander <1980->

Titolo

Mobilising the diaspora : how refugees challenge authoritarianism / / Alexander Betts, Will Jones

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Cambridge : , : Cambridge University Press, , 2016

ISBN

1-316-78960-8

1-316-79248-X

1-316-79296-X

1-316-61253-8

1-316-79344-3

1-316-79392-3

1-316-79536-5

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (x, 266 pages) : digital, PDF file(s)

Disciplina

304.8096

Soggetti

African diaspora - Political aspects

Exiles - Political activity

Refugees - Political activity

Transnationalism - Political aspects - Zimbabwe

Transnationalism - Political aspects - Rwanda

Political participation

Authoritarianism - Zimbabwe

Authoritarianism - Rwanda

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 31 Jan 2017).

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

The politics of animation -- ; Part 1: Zimbabwe -- The birth of the Zimbabwean diaspora -- Briefcase activists: death, afterlife, and performativity -- Heroic humanitarians: a neglected contribution -- ; Part 2: Rwanda -- Opposing the RPF from abroad -- Constructing the statist diaspora -- Hijacked humanitarians: the campaign against cessation.

Sommario/riassunto

Over half the world lives under authoritarian regimes. For these people, the opportunity to engage in politics moves outside the state's territory. Mobilising across borders, diasporas emerge to challenge



such governments. This book offers an in-depth examination of the internal politics of transnational mobilisation. Studying Rwandan and Zimbabwean exiles, it exposes the power, interests, and unexpected agendas behind mobilisation, revealing the surprising and ambivalent role played by outsiders. Far from being passive victims waiting for humanitarian assistance, refugees engage actively in political struggle. From Rwandans resisting their repatriation, to Zimbabweans preventing arms shipments, political exiles have diverse aims and tactics. Conversely, the governments they face also deploy a range of transnational strategies, and those that purport to help them often do so with hidden agendas. This shifting political landscape reveals the centrality of transnationalism within global politics, the historical and political contingency of diasporas, and the precarious agency of refugees.