Diaspora politics and political remittances: a conceptual reflection

The interest in the political role that migrants can play in their home countries and the type of political remittances they are sending back home has been steadily growing over the past two decades. In major conflicts in the last two decades, such as the Balkan wars, the Arab Spring in 2011, and the attempted coup in Turkey in 2016, the role of migrants and refugees as political actors has become increasingly visible. Yet, this phenomenon is not new as such: Polish, Portuguese, Chinese and Lebanese migrants have historically continued to participate in political processes in their countries of origin, as have classical diasporic communities such as Palestinian, Kurdish and Armenian communities.