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9. Clear Waters: Implications for the Study of Diasporas
- University of Illinois Press
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9 Clear Waters: Implications for the Study of Diasporas What does the Black Star Line tell us about diasporas and their political possibilities? First, it demonstrates that there is and has been an African diaspora operating politically. Even as ephemeral as the BSL effort was, it impacted politics in the Caribbean region and gave colonial powers pause in West Africa. For the United States, it raised concern about the safety of the Canal Zone and exacerbated its relations with Great Britain. The example of the Black Star Line suggests that inadequate resources do not necessarily preclude liminal diasporas from being effective actors in the international arena. It is this lack of resources that is the primary characteristic distinguishing liminal diasporas from the so-called classic diasporas. The goals of the two types of diasporas are the same, but the capabilities available make them seem like two different entities. The classic diaspora has access to two types of resources crucial to continually successful political activity. Emigrants in a classic diaspora have financial resources, which usually spring from their most valuable resource: the ability to provide services and expertise needed in developing nations or in short supply in industrialized states. Emigrants in a liminal diaspora are hindered in this regard. Though they may possess more than manual labor, as we saw from the UNIA experience, they do not have many marketable skills that are scarce in the economies they enter. Studying the BSL case in the context of liminal diasporas complements Sheffer’s work. In addition to meeting most of the criteria raised by Sheffer, the case study corroborates his main argument that diasporas impact international politics. Further, it supports Sheffer and his fellow researchers’ implicit argument that diasporas have their own physical characteristics and idiosyncrasies but are examples of the same organism. While their cultural retention, skill level, and geopolitical issues may vary, they all have the basic ingredients of a diaspora. Their communities are related and share problems and goals, they try to be connected to their homelands politically and economically , and they influence politics in their host countries because diasporas are using the latter’s economic infrastructure and its political institutions to ameliorate the status of themselves and homeland. Further, states interact with these ethnic networks to protect or expand their own interests, which are usually economic or security related. The close look at the example of the BSL adds to Sheffer’s model in two areas. First, the case study clarifies the reasoning behind the configuration of a diaspora. Second, centralization may be key to the liminal diaspora’s effective implementation of political activism. Finally, it illuminates another characteristic distinguishing the liminal from the classic diaspora. Liminal diasporas are hindered because of issues of authority. Political economists also can use the diaspora model to better understand activity occurring in the international political economy. When political economy analysis is limited to traditional actors, it is easy to underestimate the significance of events to which states are responding: nonstate actors may be the reason for development of a particular policy. The study of liminal diasporas improves our understanding of international politics and economic activity by including actors ignored by more traditional methods of investigation. Making the Case for the African Diaspora Designation The building of the BSL highlighted the many black communities distributed throughout the black Atlantic that demonstrated through their correspondence , politics, and arts a sense of consanguinity, a key ingredient in the bonding of the African diaspora. As Walters points out, they are sister communities. Embarking on this business venture also illuminated the black activists interested in pan-African political and economic development. The perusal of the political and economic history of the black communities involved in the Black Star Line shows that the pan-African ideal and activism was embedded in many at least a half century before the UNIA was established . Newspapers circulated throughout the areas focused their work on the elimination of racial derogation and ways to ameliorate their political and economic status, not only in their host countries but internationally. Unity 164 . black star [54.92.135.47] Project MUSE (2024-03-29 08:31 GMT) seemed to hold as long as the political work was confined to joint lobbying efforts of both the U.S. and British governments. The perceived need for a shipping service that connected diaspora communities demonstrates that blacks around the Atlantic identified with the African continent, particularly with sub-Saharan Africa. The institution of slavery pulled its victims from...