Diaspora studies has developed in recent years from disparate enquiries into diasporic
phenomena in political science anthropology history geography and literary and cultural
studies. Its emergence as a full-fledged transdisciplinary research field has been predicated
to a large degree on an interest in questions of dispersal and mobility. Based on the
proceedings of an international conference by the Marie Curie Initial Training Network CoHaB
this volume undertakes to shift the focus to phenomena of home-making and the articulation of a
sense of belonging in diasporic contexts. Contributors from a broad range of disciplines
discuss a variety of historical and geographical instances of diasporas exploring the
methodological and theoretical challenges posed by the subjects of 'home' and 'belonging'.
Including an interview with Homi K. Bhabha on these subjects and the place of theory in
diaspora studies as well as contributions by such central figures as Pnina Werbner and Ihab
Hassan the volume aims at offering a new prospectus of the range and potential of academic
work on the cultural formations of diaspora.
