engleski

The Role of Diasporas in the European Integration

Transnationalisation is probably the most relevant process in social, economic and political terms and European integration is one of its most important aspects. Increasing number of transnationalisation and globalisation studies in different fields are also a confirmation of the rising relevance of this subject. Further on, the position of diasporas in the age of globalisation was recognised, discussed and theorised by an increasing number of scholars (Cohen, 1997 ; Vertovec & Cohen, 1999). They usually emphasised the fact that the globalisation and the social and economic development of diasporas "go together extraordinarily well" (Cohen, 1997). However it seems that the active role of diasporas in processes like transnationalisation and globalisation was at least neglected. It is easy to declare diasporas transnational in their social and economic basis but it is far more difficult to say how their action intersect (and where exactly) with transnationalisation. Beside that, a reasonable comparative analysis between different diasporas and diaspora types in Europe is obviously not a priority for the scholars despite their praising of the transnational character of diasporas in Europe. The experience of Italian, Greek and later Portuguese and Spanish diasporas in the initial socio-political processes in the EC were not sufficiently researched. Polish, Hungarian, Czech and Cypriot diasporas could play or already play an important role in the process of the European transnationalisation through EU enlargement. In the future the experienced and established diasporas (e.g. Turkish and Croatian) could influence significantly the direction of the development of the European transnationalisation. It seems that a comparative research of the exact role of diasporas in a wide and deep process like transnationalisation would be much more meaningful than just a description of single cases, the role of their migration and of their identity, in time and space. Transnationalisation of Europe refers to a process of relativising and deconstructing of nation-state boundaries and national (social, cultural, political, economic) units in Europe. Its most important but not the only dimension is the European integration through the structures of the EU. The main goal of the research would be to determine the role of diasporas in this process. The best way to do this would be to determine the action of the diasporan networks and associations in different spheres and to assess its impact on transference, transformation and transcendence of the boundaries of national units in Europe.

diaspora; transnationalisation; European Union; EU enlargement

nije evidentirano