ABSTRACT
In recent years, there has been increasing interest in relations between migrant-sending states and ‘their’ diasporas, in the form of both empirical research and normative critique. This began with an explosion of literature on political transnationalism (Bauböck 2003; Guarnizo et al. 2003), focusing on both the bottom-up transnational political activities of migrants themselves (Smith and Guarnizo 1998), and the orientation of migrant-sending states towards transnational migration (see, for example, Brand 2006; Cano and Délano 2007; Gamlen 2006; Levitt and de la Dehesa 2003; Smith 2003; Margheritis 2007; Østergaard-Nielsen 2003b). It has evolved into a nuanced literature that compares and theorizes state diaspora relations (see Cano and Délano 2007; Choate 2008; Green and Weil 2007). This research is particularly relevant to policy-makers searching for ways of understanding a world transformed by migration.
