Diasporas and imported-conflicts : the case of Turkish and Kurdish second generation in Sweden

Abstract

This paper investigates political mobilization for homeland politics among secondgeneration Turkish and Kurdish diasporas in Sweden. By looking closely at the relations between these two groups, it seeks to understand how an ethnic conflict in the homeland is carried beyond borders and recreated in transnational space. It argues that while there has been no collective violence between the two groups many conflict indicators are evident, including: social distance, separation of social spaces, mutual avoidance, and conflicts at the discursive level. Although the conflict adversely affects their interactions, the animosity and conflict dynamics do not mirror the situation in the homeland and they have taken on a new form as a result of the conditions and experiences in the host country.