Diaspora and civil society: a commentary

ABSTRACT

Most work on political activities of Canada's Southeast Asian diaspora focuses mainly on civil society activism geared towards Southeast Asia. This work has enriched understanding of NGOs and social movements. By contrast, however, little attention has been paid to the Asian diasporic struggles for inclusion and reforms in Canada and their roles in transforming the political landscape in their countries of origin. This commentary places the latter in its focus by examining the problematics of “diaspora and civil society” from a historical perspective and as a context for understanding the relations between Canada and the Southeast Asian diaspora in both Canada and Southeast Asia. It suggests that while Southeast Asian diasporic communities – with support of Canadian public institutions and NGOs – have been strongly engaged in “long-distance nationalism” and had success at contributing to the transformation of politics in Southeast Asia, they have been relatively weak in transforming Canadian national politics.

RESUME

La plupart des travaux sur les activités politiques de la diaspora canadienne d'Asie du Sud-Est se concentrent principalement sur l'activisme de la société civile orienté vers l'Asie du Sud-Est. Ces travaux ont enrichi la compréhension des ONG et des mouvements sociaux. En revanche, peu d'attention a été accordée aux luttes des diasporas asiatiques pour l'inclusion et les réformes au Canada, ainsi qu'à leur rôle dans la transformation du paysage politique de leurs pays d'origine. Ce commentaire met l'accent sur ce dernier point en examinant la problématique de la « diaspora et de la société civile » d'un point de vue historique et en tant que contexte pour comprendre les relations entre le Canada et la diaspora de l'Asie du Sud-Est, aussi bien au Canada qu'en Asie du Sud-Est. Il suggère que si les communautés diasporiques d'Asie du Sud-Est se sont fortement engagées - avec le soutien des institutions publiques et des ONG canadiennes - dans le « nationalisme à longue distance » et ont réussi à contribuer à la transformation de la politique en Asie du Sud-Est, elles ont été relativement faibles dans la transformation de la politique nationale canadienne.

KEYWORDS:

• Canada
• Southeast Asia
• civil society
• diaspora

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 See: https://iaffairscanada.com/the-philippine-labour-export-policy-ofws-remittances-and-resilience/

2 See: https://euc.yorku.ca/research-spotlight/imagining-political-and-economic-alternatives-between-canada-and-the-philippines/

3 See: https://cooperation.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Introduction_Asia_Pacific_Working_Group.pdf

4 Thanks to Dominique Caouette for pointing this out.

5 See, for example, IDRC's Knowledge for Democratization Myanmar initiative, which also includes some support for diaspora groups: https://k4dm.ca

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Abidin Kusno

Abidin Kusno is Professor at the Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change at York University, Toronto, and former director of the York Centre for Asian Research (2017-22). His most recent publications include Jakarta: The City of a Thousand Dimensions (National University of Singapore Press, 2023).