Banal diasporic nationalism. The Ghana@50 celebrations in Berlin.

Boris Nieswand (1)

1 Socio-Cultural Diversity [Göttingen]

Although it has been highlighted by several authors that the notion of diaspora has become a politicised identity discourse, little is known about how it becomes a banal part of migrants' everyday lives. Based on a theoretical understanding of banality, the article focuses on the interaction of the banal and the non-banal within this context of the fiftieth anniversary of Ghanaian Independence in Berlin in 2007. It is argued that diasporic nationalist rituals are spaces of intersections between politicised and banal spheres of social life. By enacting and institutionalising particular forms of interaction that are 'banalizing' dissent and conflict among migrants the examined series of public rituals contributed to give life-worldly relevance to the otherwise questionable and contested identity category of diaspora. In this sense, the primary product was not group formation but the banalization of diasporic nationalism as a category of identification.

Mots clés: Social Sciences & Humanities

Domaines: Anthropologie sociale et ethnologie

Boris Nieswand. Banal diasporic nationalism. The Ghana@50 celebrations in Berlin.. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 2011, PP (PP), pp.1. ⟨10.1080/01419870.2011.607505⟩. ⟨hal-00733888⟩