RAPID: Does war in the homeland make diaspora narratives more persuasive?

The intensity of globalization processes has made Western societies more transnational. Diaspora communities – people who reside in one country but maintain attachments to their real or imagined “homeland” – have been increasingly mobilized for or against their country of origin. What shapes diasporic individuals’ attitudes toward the homeland and their tendency to mobilize politically on this basis? This research answers this question using a survey experiment that randomly exposes individuals to one of three narratives: (1) a narrative that emphasizes contemporary danger for one’s kin in the homeland; (2) a narrative that emphasizes shared trauma and common suffering; and (3) a narrative that emphasizes discrimination and rejection in the diaspora’s country of residence. Doing so allows us to assess the persuasive impact of these narratives and identify whether they resonate across different sociodemographic subgroups within the diaspora. The burgeoning literature on diaspora mobilization highlights three ideational factors that shape the attitudes of diaspora communities toward their “homeland”: (1) perceptions of contemporary danger for one’s kin in the homeland; (2) narratives about shared trauma and common suffering; and (3) a sense of discrimination and rejection in the diaspora’s country of residence. However, there is little rigorous empirical evidence assessing the impact of these factors at the individual level. This research asks whether references to danger in the homeland, shared historical trauma, or current discrimination move the diaspora’s attachment to its purported “homeland,” the diaspora’s tendency to mobilize, and the diaspora’s support of their country of residence’s policies toward the “homeland.” Using experimental methods, this research also examines whether these factors operate uniformly across different sociodemographic subgroups within the diaspora. Investigating how different narratives shape homeland attachment across subgroups will further researchers’ understanding about the preservation and reproduction of diasporic identity, particularly among younger generations who did not directly experience the historic trauma, dislocation, and discrimination. Moreover, our project will also contribute to better understanding of how references to shared trauma affect group attitudes and behavior. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.