Transnational belonging and leverage: A new theory of diaspora political agency
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Date
2025
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Publisher
Aminu Kano Academic Scholars Association Multidisciplinary Journal (AKASA-MJ)
Abstract
The article presents a new theoretical framework, the Transnational Belonging-Leverage Theory
(TBLT) to explain the political agency of the diaspora communities in the postcolonial and global
settings. The current body of research on the study of diaspora has been either inclined towards
material variables (remittances and lobbying) or social cultural variables (identity and nostalgia).
TBLT is a way to develop the field by defining diaspora influence as a result of a dynamic
interaction between the notion of belonging, as defined by emotional, symbolic and identity ties
to the home land, and the notion of leverage, which comprises economic, political, technological
and institutional resources which have been accumulated in host societies. The theory argues that
belonging and leverage do not work alone to explain diaspora behaviour, but rather the interaction
of the two dimensions is what defines how much, how, and the results of diaspora engagement.
The article defines the main ideas, processes, interaction patterns, and analytical quadrants by
which TBLT explains the differences in the roles of diaspora in the processes of conflict escalation,
peacebuilding, governance reform, and citizenship politics. The framework is an empirically
applicable and flexible frame of reference to the study of diaspora politics in Africa, the Middle
East, Europe, and the Global South.