<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>Passage of the Diaspora Law of Latvia required policymakers to go through an arduous process of discussing the limitations of diaspora, weighing the potential risks and benefits of various possible approaches, and ultimately agreeing on a definition to be included in the law. The end result was a very broad interpretation of who can be recognized as part of the Latvian diaspora. In this paper, to understand the political process of arriving at a definition, the theoretical perspectives of the ‘narrow’ and ‘broad’ definitions of diaspora are discussed, the motivations driving national governments to engage with their diasporas are analysed, and the discourse used during the drafting process is reviewed.</p>
</abstract>

Passage of the Diaspora Law of Latvia required policymakers to go through an arduous process of discussing the limitations of diaspora, weighing the potential risks and benefits of various possible approaches, and ultimately agreeing on a definition to be included in the law. The end result was a very broad interpretation of who can be recognized as part of the Latvian diaspora. In this paper, to understand the political process of arriving at a definition, the theoretical perspectives of the ‘narrow’ and ‘broad’ definitions of diaspora are discussed, the motivations driving national governments to engage with their diasporas are analysed, and the discourse used during the drafting process is reviewed.

Diasporic Politics and Defining Diaspora in Law: The Case of Latvia

Senior Researcher, PhD, University of Latvia, Faculty of Sciences

Researcher, University of Latvia, Faculty of Sciences

Baltic Journal of Law & Politics

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

{"article-title":"Diasporic Politics and Defining Diaspora in Law: The Case of Latvia"}

Passage of the Diaspora Law of Latvia required policymakers to go through an arduous process of discussing the limitations of diaspora, weighing the potential...

Diasporic Politics and Defining Diaspora in Law: The Case of Latvia

Published Online: Oct 08, 2021

Page range: 48 - 72

Received: Jan 19, 2021

Accepted: Jul 15, 2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/bjlp-2021-0003

Keywords
Diaspora, diaspora politics, Latvia, diaspora law, diaspora definition, diaspora policy

© 2021 Ieva Birka et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Diasporic Politics and Defining Diaspora in Law: The Case of Latvia

Published Online: Oct 08, 2021

Page range: 48 - 72

Received: Jan 19, 2021

Accepted: Jul 15, 2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/bjlp-2021-0003

KeywordsDiaspora, diaspora politics, Latvia, diaspora law, diaspora definition, diaspora policy

© 2021 Ieva Birka et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
Diaspora, diaspora politics, Latvia, diaspora law, diaspora definition, diaspora policy