Introduction to the special issue: Politics, policies and diplomacy of diaspora governance: New directions in theory and research

This special issue entitled “Politics, Policies and Diplomacy of Diaspora Governance: New Directions in Theory and Research” is a result of a workshop organised by Dr Bahar Baser (Coventry University, UK) and Dr Henio Hoyo (CIDE and UDEM, Mexico) at the Freud Museum on December 6, 2018, and funded by the British Academy / Newton Mobility Grant. Throughout the workshop, diaspora scholars from various fields explored diaspora politics and policies from a variety of perspectives with a special focus on home state policies towards mobilising diasporas. A central theme that has emerged throughout the discussions was the ascending importance of diasporas as non-state actors in international relations and the multifaceted relationships they form with their home and host states as well as other non-governmental organisations. The special issue contains case studies from different parts of the world, from Latin America to the Balkans, from Africa to the Middle East, revealing that there is a growing global trend of engaging diasporas to complex policy mechanisms at home and abroad.