Abstract
This chapter presents an empirical study of transnational political ties among the diaspora-originated but ‘home-grown’ generation of Kurds in Finland. More specifically, it looks at how a sense of belonging is constructed and enacted through transnational political engagement and how overlapping memberships in various polities can shape transnational practices and citizenship feelings. The study draws conclusions from interviews and observation data gathered from young Kurdish-origin adults that are active in Kurdish diaspora parties in Finland. Toivanen will employ the intersectional frame developed by Nira Yuval-Davis on belonging and politics of belonging, which allows approaching individual-level constructions of belonging and how they intertwine with collective, political projects of belonging. Furthermore, this chapter explores alternative perspectives to study young adults’ transnational relations and memberships in a way that takes into consideration the national, transnational as well as the local context in which they are formed.
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Notes
- 1.
One example of differing political views between the generations is J Street, a liberal advocacy group, which aims to encourage the American leadership to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict peacefully. The group attracts many young Jews (post-Holocaust generation) whose political views differ from their parents’ views (Harwood 2009).
- 2.
Sheffer (2003) discusses the concept of diaspora politics in more length.
- 3.
Several interviewees have been reported to been born in a specific refugee camp located at the Iraqi-Jordanian border.
- 4.
All the respondents, with the exception of one, belong to this generation and age-cohort.
- 5.
Interviewees’ names have been anonymised.
- 6.
Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan. http://www.pdki.org.
- 7.
Most notably the semi-autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan, whose status within the Republic of Iraq considerably differs from that of Iranian region of Kurdistan and its status within the Islamic Republic of Iran.
- 8.
The interview themes included their level of political activism, the current situation in Kurdistan, transnational contacts, citizenship and sense of belonging/home. The interview themes were structured loosely to allow the interviewees to reflect on issues that they considered to be significant for them.
- 9.
The age at arrival varied between 5 and 18 years (apart from one, who arrived at the age of 21), and the median age at arrival was 13.
- 10.
Yet it needs to be acknowledged that the informants’ age can arguably be a relevant factor in determining their political engagement and how it shifts over time.
- 11.
The trips to demonstrations departed from Turku, where the researcher was invited by key persons in the community.
- 12.
For instance, Wahlbeck (1999, 154–155) mentions that refugees from Kurdistan who do not intend to pursue their political endeavours in Finland seem to be favoured in the selection process.
- 13.
This echoes the competing discourses ‘terrorist/freedom fighters’ in the Palestinian case (see Hall 2006, 167).
- 14.
This is based on observation notes in various political and cultural meetings, both in Turku and Helsinki. No official party membership figures exist.
- 15.
Miikka Pyykkönen has also suggested a typology of his own in his study on immigrant associations in Tampere and Jyväskylä (2007, 78–79).
- 16.
For example, the website http://www.kurdistan.fi had been closed for several months (November 2012) reportedly due to cyber-attacks from hackers, who identified themselves as “Turkish kemalists” and “The liberation front of Syrian Arabs”.
- 17.
The young Kurds who ‘hang around’ in the public spaces were called hansalapset (hansa-children) by some respondents, referring to the shopping centre Hansa located at the city centre of Turku.
- 18.
Several interviewees expressed their wish to work in the Kurdistan area but not necessarily move there definitely.
- 19.
Miikka Pyykkönen’s study (2007, 82) shows that the maintenance of an ethnic language is central to the immigrant associations in Finland.
- 20.
On the other hand, some interviewees preferred a federalist or other semi-autonomous system to total independence.
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Toivanen, M. (2016). Political Transnationalism as a Matter of Belonging: Young Kurds in Finland. In: Ahponen, P., Harinen, P., Haverinen, VS. (eds) Dislocations of Civic Cultural Borderlines. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-21804-5_6
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