Diasporic Citizenship [Paperback]

This book uses a critical transnational perspective to convey the adaptation of Haitian immigrants in American society and reconceptualizes the notion of diasporic citizenship so as to take stock of the newer facets of the globalization process.

This book delineates the history of the Haitian diaspora in the United States in the nineteenth century, but it primarily concerns itself with the contemporary period and more specifically with the diasporic enclave in New York City. It uses a critical transnational perspective to convey the adaptation of the immigrants in American society and the border-crossing practices they engage in as they maintain their relations with the homeland. Throughout the book, Michel S. Laguerre argues that the nation-state that has until now constituted the niche where citizenship was defined, contextualized, and played out, has seen its boundaries open wide, and has become increasingly impotent in the presence of a series of transnational practices undertaken by its resident population. The book reproblematizes and reconceptualizes the notion of diasporic citizenship so as to take stock of the newer facets of the globalization process.

Michel S. Laguerre teaches anthropology and Afro-American studies at the University of California at Berkeley.

Introduction * Transnational Haiti * Of Convents, Congressmen, and Plessy v. Ferguson * Refugees and Immigrants * Headquarters and Subsidiary Households * Diasporic Business * Community Media: Newspaper, Radio, and Television * Schooling * Transnational Politics: Border-Crossing Political Practices * Conclusion: Transnational Diasporic Citizenship * Appendix A: Haitian Immigrants: Fiscal Years 1984-1994 * Appendix B: Asylum Granted 1985-1994 * Appendix C: Selected Economic Characteristics of Race/Ethnic/Ancestry Groups, New York City, 1990 * Appendix D: LEP Student Enrollments by Predominant Language and Borough in New York City * Index