Book review: Mobilising the Diaspora

'Mobilising the Diaspora' by Alexander Betts and Will Jones is a fascinating and significant book for scholars and political analysts who desire to understand why certain diasporas are politically mobilised, whether (and how) their activities influence politics at home, why they choose specific tactics to reach their goals, and which factors define the 'birth, life, death and afterlife' of a diaspora. One of the central concepts of the book is the concept of 'animation', where 'animators' are seen as actors causing mobilisation and providing various resources for a diaspora. The hypothesis of Betts and Jones is that when animation comes primarily from within the community and when its work is institutionalised, political activities of the diaspora have better sustainability chances than when animation is primarily external and network-based. The authors use as case studies the transnational mobilisation of the Zimbabwean and Rwandan diasporas to test their theory.