Is a country's diaspora more nationalistic and conservative than the people who live in that country?(read on)

Question

I want to know why the diaspora of a country (2nd 0r 3rd generation etc) is often more right wing nationalist - and stuck to the 'old ways' than the people who are living in the country of origin..

Let me give you two examples to clarify what I mean...


The Croatian diaspora in the USA. is much more nationalistic than the Croatians living in Croatia... During the war..alot of support for the Ustashe movement (very right wing pro nazi sympathisers) came from Croatians living abroad... And if you go to Croatia now most Croatians want to forget the war..and condemn nationalists such as Tudjman..Yet in the USA he is still a hero...


In England the alot of the Pakistani community..are following old peasant traditions..yet if you go to Pakistan it is much more modern. It is very common for a British man to get a wife from Pakistan hopping for a traditional subservient wife...only to find out the she is a modern independent woman with a mind of her own..that won't just spend all her time cooking

What do you think ??? And Why ???

Thank you for all your answers...
I had four good answers that answered my question very well in different ways..
It was hard to choose the best because I think all the answers had their good points :-)

Answer 1

The same is valid for the greek diaspora and today is the subject of academic studies.
They RECOGNISE better the IMPORTANCE OF THE NATION, the importance to stay united and keep their own traditions and so they decide to IDENTIFY WITH THEIR HOMELANDS.
This is imposed by various reasons. Psychological reasons, cultural reasons and socioeconomic reasons. I believe that the first one is dominant to the other.
I will try to analyse in brief my views(I do this, as we need to know the various dimensions and consider their influence).
The 20th century, has seen massive ethnic refugee crises due to war and the rise of nationalism and racism, as well.
It is ETHNICITY that is the cultural and hereditary characteristics which are connecting a particular group or groups of people to each other beyond a simple racial similarity. The low socioeconomic status of these people(after war) and quite frequently the lack of knowledge of the language of the hostage country, made them gather in communities that kept traditions intact through the time.
They have grown up their children with a certain MENTALITY that is not changing in new generations.
Globalisation in our days, has accelerated the flow of people. I believe that today, are still the same inner needs of the individual which are keeping diasporans (the new ones and those of 2nd and 3rd generation) connected, THE NEED TO DIFFERENTIATE THEMSELVES and say that they belong somewhere, to keep the traditions, the culture and to wake up every time that they listen the National Anthem.
There is a big number of greeks living around the Globe.
Every 2 years, the ministry of foreign affairs is organising a congress in Greece in order to facilitate communication inviting the rapresentants of greek communities in an exchange of views with their country and keep the bonds tight. I’ve been there a couple of times.

Katerina

Answer 2

It's the same with English people who live abroad - they don't realise it's changed since they buggered off and left the sinking ship. They tend to have right wing views based on a fanciful view of England as they remember it. People from Asia come here for the money and then pass on right wing views to their children - and then complain about human rights violations - when their kids end up in Guantanamo Bay - held as terrorists. If people are so proud of their culture why not go to the country of origin and help sort out the problems - and understand the culture - but that would mean a loss of income. It's all money, money, money - and they just talk crap.

Answer 3

Yes, and the same thing is with Serbian people, but I think in a calm - different way. I think nostalgy is the main reason why our diaspora is mainly known as "folk music consuments", even with those people who would never listen that kind of music at home, but recognises it as native country music. And being afraid not to torn every link with their origin or way of life, many of them take Serbian customs very strict, or value those traditional behaviour more higher than people who stayed "home".
And what about those who stayed in their native land? I think that generaly society in that countries which were mentioned here, are trying to fit in the constant progress of Europe, or western civilisation. That's why maybe they do not hold their bases in tradition so strong - they are trying to "fit in", and to be more flexible towards nationalism.
Many things have changed since the war, and concidering the fact that we were the losing side in every war that took place on these grounds in past decade, it seems to me that we are running away from nationalism (that's if you don't look at supporters of Serbian Radical Party).
We have now less patriotic fellings than ever, and if we were to show this in any kind of way, it will be so drastic that we could surprise even ourselves.
The people are the same everywhere, and diaspora, if they ever exchange places with those from their native country, would behave as their countrymen did. Nevertheless, some might say that those people who stayed in their country are more patriotic than those who ran away from it. Maybe diaspora feels some kind of guilt?

Answer 4

Yes. I'm third generation and my family won't let me a) get a girlfriend b) move out of the house c) question their 'wisdom' d) do anything remotely fun. I'm planning on running away from them after I graduate and never calling them again.

I think it's because they experience racism and disorientating change in their new countries and they therefore react by becoming more traditional and more oppressive to other members that are inside their group.

Answer 5

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