Previous page | New search |
The free AfricaBib App for Android is available here
Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | Identity, Citizenship, and Transnationalism: Ismailis in Tanzania and Burundians in the Diaspora |
Authors: | Kadende-Kaiser, Rose M. Kaiser, Paul J. |
Year: | 1998 |
Periodical: | Africa Today |
Volume: | 45 |
Issue: | 3-4 |
Pages: | 461-480 |
Language: | English |
Geographic terms: | Burundi Tanzania |
Subjects: | Islam emigrants Burundians nationality Politics and Government Law, Human Rights and Violence Ethnic and Race Relations Religion and Witchcraft Urbanization and Migration Isma'ilis Shi'ites |
External link: | https://www.jstor.org/stable/4187239 |
Abstract: | Focusing on two communities, Ismailis in Tanzania and the Burundian diaspora, this article offers perspectives on transnational citizenship that coexist with, but often transcend, traditional Western liberal conceptions of citizenship that are neatly bounded within the spatial conceptions of the State. The authors consider how Tanzanian Ismailis have negotiated a hierarchy of identities that has enabled them to simultaneously exercise their legal status as citizens of Tanzania and to remain a part of the Ismaili community, Shi'a Muslims who recognize His Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan IV as their spiritual leader. Members of the global Ismaili community have developed a transnational system of governance that is clearly articulated in their constitution. Burundians living in the diaspora have also negotiated alternative identities that challenge traditional conceptions of citizenship. An Internet group site called Burundinet is used by people from Burundi to try and overcome subnational claims to ethnic citizenship and rebuild a national community from afar. In both cases, the centralized management of information has been crucial to the process of identity formation. Notes, ref. |