Jump to content

Commonwealth diaspora

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The South Asian diaspora playing cricket in Toronto, Canada.

The Commonwealth diaspora is the group of people whose ancestry traces back to countries in the Commonwealth of Nations, a group mainly consisting of former British colonies.[a]

History

[edit]

Colonial era

[edit]
See also: Indian diaspora § European Colonial rule (to 1947), and British diaspora

The British Empire enabled a substantial amount of commercial migration; for example, 1.5 million Indian merchants are estimated to have gone abroad in the 19th century.[2] Preferential access to trade with other British colonies, as well as new commercial opportunities unlocked within India by railways and markets established by the British, influenced this migration flow.[3] Indian migrants played a significant role in the expansion of the British Empire, though at times involuntarily, as in the case of many indentured servants or exiled criminals.[4]

Contemporary era

[edit]
See also: Modern immigration to the United Kingdom § British Empire and the Commonwealth, and Windrush scandal

In the aftermath of World War 2 and the rapid breakup of the British Empire, Britain invited Commonwealth citizens to immigrate to Britain as part of the post-war rebuilding of the nation.[5] Many of these immigrants faced significant racism.[6][7] Restrictions on Commonwealth migration to Britain later emerged with the Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962.[8]

Inter-Commonwealth migration began to slow down in general, as recently liberated countries began to develop a greater sense of national identity and desire to limit foreign influences in general.[9]

Recent decades

[edit]
See also: Hong Kong diaspora

The Commonwealth diaspora in Britain in particular has been identified as a potential asset, allowing Britain to make economic and other connections to other Commonwealth countries, which has been a particularly relevant topic of discussion as Britain charts its post-Brexit future and decides which groupings of countries to focus on working with (such as with the European Union).[10][11][12]

Immigration between Commonwealth countries, which makes up half of all Commonwealth migration, has played a significant role in linking Commonwealth countries together economically and culturally.[13]

The British royalty have previously hosted events commemorating this diaspora.[14]

Sports

[edit]

Various groups in the Commonwealth diaspora, such as Caribbean diasporas,[15][16] have been noted for being bound together by the sport of cricket,[17][18] as well as introducing cricket to a number of countries, such as Canada and the United States.[19][20]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Bidwell, Sam (2023-05-17). "Bangladesh should put the Commonwealth at the centre of its thinking". The Daily Star. Retrieved 2024-03-12.
  2. ^ Carter, Marina (2008-09-22), "2 INDIANS AND THE COLONIAL DIASPORA", 2 INDIANS AND THE COLONIAL DIASPORA, ISEAS Publishing, pp. 12–26, doi:10.1355/9789812308009-007/pdf?licensetype=restricted, ISBN 978-981-230-800-9, retrieved 2024-10-08
  3. ^ Persaud, Alexander (2020-08-27), "Indian Merchant Migration within the British Empire", Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Asian History, doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780190277727.001.0001/acrefore-9780190277727-e-602, ISBN 978-0-19-027772-7, retrieved 2024-10-08
  4. ^ Haitao, Jia (2020-01-01). "British colonial expansion with Indian diaspora: the pattern of Indian overseas migration". Cappadocia Journal of Area Studies (CJAS), Cappadocia University. 2 (2 (1)): 56–81. doi:10.38154/cjas.27. ISSN 2717-7254.
  5. ^ Webster, Wendy (2011). "The Empire Comes Home: Commonwealth Migration to Britain". Britain's Experience of Empire in the Twentieth Century. pp. 122–160. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199236589.003.0004. ISBN 978-0-19-923658-9.
  6. ^ Richards, Gella (2023). "Racism on Campus". Cyberbullying and Online Harms. pp. 52–56. doi:10.4324/9781003258605-7. ISBN 978-1-003-25860-5.
  7. ^ Ruiz, Marie (2018). "Review of 'Migrants of the British Diaspora Since the 1960s. Stories From Modern Nomads'". Reviews in History. doi:10.14296/RiH/2014/2275.
  8. ^ Adogame, Afe (2016-02-24). The Public Face of African New Religious Movements in Diaspora: Imagining the Religious 'Other'. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-01863-6.
  9. ^ Tinker, Hugh (1984), Groom, A. J. R.; Taylor, Paul (eds.), "Migration in the Commonwealth", The Commonwealth in the 1980s: Challenges and Opportunities, London: Palgrave Macmillan UK, pp. 244–259, doi:10.1007/978-1-349-05691-0_15, ISBN 978-1-349-05691-0, retrieved 2024-05-29
  10. ^ Buckle, Ralph; Hewish, Tim; Hulsman, John C. (2015-02-17). BREXIT: Directions for Britain Outside the EU. Do Sustainability. ISBN 978-0-255-36682-3.
  11. ^ Révauger, Guilène (March 2022). The Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games: Where from, What for, and Where to?. Journée d'études - Cultural Encounters in English-Speaking Societies. Laboratoire DIRE & UFR LSH Département du monde anglophone & INSPE de La Réunion.
  12. ^ Commonwealth in 2020 UK Parliament
  13. ^ Nurse, Keith (2016-02-26). The Diasporic Economy, Trade and Investment Linkages in the Commonwealth. International Trade Working Paper. Commonwealth iLibrary. doi:10.14217/5jm2jfg8c26c-en.
  14. ^ AfricaNews (2024). "King Charles hosts Commonwealth reception in London". Africanews. Retrieved 2024-10-03.
  15. ^ Joseph, Janelle (17 February 2011). Cricket as a Diasporic Resource for Caribbean-Canadians (Thesis). hdl:1807/26276.[page needed]
  16. ^ Joseph, Janelle (December 2014). "Culture, community, consciousness: The Caribbean sporting diaspora". International Review for the Sociology of Sport. 49 (6): 669–687. doi:10.1177/1012690212465735. S2CID 145003439.
  17. ^ Jacoviello, Stefano; Sbriccoli, Tammaso (2012-12-19). Shifting Borders: European Perspectives on Creolisation. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4438-4442-0.
  18. ^ Degazon-Johnson, Roli (October 2010). "The Indian Diaspora within the Context of the Modern Commonwealth - Acknowledging the Past, Constructing the Future". Journal of Social Sciences. 25 (1–3): vii–x. doi:10.1080/09718923.2010.11892860. S2CID 149089263.
  19. ^ Pugh, Adam (June 2012). "Benedict Drew: GLISS". Art Monthly. No. 357. p. 32. ProQuest 1019053418.
  20. ^ "Cricket extends borders as USA and West Indies co-host men's 2024 T20 World Cup". The Guardian. 16 November 2021.
  1. ^ The term is also sometimes used to describe diasporas who currently live in Commonwealth nations.[1]

Further reading

[edit]
  • Creese, Gillian Laura (2011). The New African Diaspora in Vancouver: Migration, Exclusion, and Belonging. University of Toronto Press. ISBN 978-1-4426-1159-7.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Commonwealth_diaspora&oldid=1254026818"