Sociologist Sharon M. Quinsaat sheds new light on the formation of diasporic connections through transnational protests. 

When people migrate and settle in other countries, do they automatically form a diaspora? In Insurgent Communities, Sharon M. Quinsaat explains the dynamic process through which a diaspora is strategically constructed. Quinsaat looks to Filipinos in the United States and the Netherlands—examining their resistance against the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos, their mobilization for migrants’ rights, and the construction of a collective memory of the Marcos regime—to argue that diasporas emerge through political activism. Social movements provide an essential space for addressing migrants’ diverse experiences and relationships with their homeland and its history. A significant contribution to the interdisciplinary field of migration and social movements studies, Insurgent Communities illuminates how people develop collective identities in times of social upheaval.
 

Sharon M. Quinsaat is a scholar of social movements and migration and an associate professor of sociology at Grinnell College. She has published her research in Mobilization, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Ethnic and Racial Studies, Mass Communication and Society, Sociology Compass, and Asian Survey. 
 

List of Abbreviations
Preface
Introduction
1 Movement(s) and Identities: Toward a Theory of Diaspora Construction through Contention
2 Roots and Routes: Global Migration of Filipinos
3 Patriots and Revolutionaries: Anti-Dictatorship Movement and Loyalty to the Homeland
4 Workers and Minorities: Mobilizations for Migrants’ Rights and Ethnic/National Solidarity
5 Storytellers and Interlocutors: Collective Memory Activism and Shared History
Conclusion
Acknowledgments
Appendix: Methodology
Notes
References
Index