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Connected Communities: Diaspora and Transnationality

These pages relate to a research project entitled Connected Communities: Diaspora and Transnationality that was undertaken in 2011 by Alison Blunt, Jayani Bonnerjee, Cathy McIlwaine (all at QMUL) and Clifford Pereira (community engagement facilitator). This is part of a larger cross-Council Programme on Connected Communities being led by the AHRC in partnership with the EPSRC, ESRC, MRC and NERC and a range of external partners. The vision for the Programme is:

“to mobilise the potential for increasingly inter-connected, culturally diverse, communities to enhance participation, prosperity, sustainability, health & well-being by better connecting research, stakeholders and communities.”

Further details about the Programme can be found on the AHRC’s Connected Communities web pages.

This specific project entailed developing a research review exploring the idea of ‘connected communities’ in relation to diaspora and transnationality across the humanities and social sciences. It developed the idea of ‘connectivity’ within and across communities that are transnational and diasporic, focusing on four key areas: community histories; home, community and migration; cities, communities and connections; and faith communities and religious diasporas.

An integral part of the research review were four one-day workshops on these themes held in partnership with The Royal Geographical Society (with Institute of British Geographers) and The Geffrye Museum of the Home. These workshops (two at the RGS-IBG, one at The Geffrye and one at The City Centre, QMUL) brought together more than 70 participants from across the academic, arts/cultural and community sectors and involved a range of presentations, workshop activities and discussions about future collaborative research priorities.

The review examines key academic debates on community, diaspora and transnationality; highlights key projects across the academic, arts/cultural and community sectors in a series of boxes; includes workshop summaries and evaluations; and identifies key areas for future collaborative research.

Connected Communities: Diaspora and Transnationality report [DOC 2,814KB]

Connected Communities: Diaspora and Transnationality research review [PDF 789KB]

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