Afghan Diasporas in Britain and Germany: Dynamics, Engagements and Agency

Relationships between diasporas and their countries of origin have attracted vivid interests of academics and policy makers. Such relationships are often analysed with a focus on diaspora activities and their impact. There are many case studies of diaspora groups’ engagements with their home country, including different channels through which they are carried out. Prominent forms of diaspora involvement include hometown associations (Mercer et al., 2008), remittance sending (Lindley, 2009) and the transfer of social, cultural and political ideas and artefacts (Levitt, 1998; Vertovec, 1999). Most studies, however, do not answer why people coalesce into diasporas, how they frame their relationship with their country of origin and why and how members of diaspora communities choose to engage in homeland-oriented activities. Peoples’ agency and motivation to engage with their country of origin seem to be taken as a given.