actually, for most south asians, the "diaspora" just refers to the extended south asian community who have moved to the west in search of better jobs etc. there are no negative connotations to the term.
Re:Diaspora Developer Release
by SkyMarshal on Thursday September 16, 2010 @03:19AM
(#1697078)
"You can bet for most non-US people that 'diaspora' reminds them of some sort of persecution their people have faced."
I like it for that reason. Edgy, accurate, and with the potential to repurpose/reframe the word in the minds of many.
That kind of persecution also tends to cause the persecuted to bond even more strongly and proudly with their cultural identity, so the connotations are not all bad.
Sure, but this sounds like a cult of victimhood or differentness, and you'll find that these subcultures remain in the minority, in part because they define themselves as a minority.
Re:Diaspora Developer Release
by SkyMarshal on Thursday September 16, 2010 @02:24PM
(#1698644)
The individual subcultures do, but taken altogether they could be quite large. Good point though, we'll see, hopefully that's not Diaspora's fate.
You can bet for most non-US people that 'diaspora' reminds them of some sort of persecution their people have faced. It is also a word that is used in a lot of languages, I have friends who are Russian, Ukranian, Serbian, Lebanese, Armenian, Jordanian etc. who all refer to themselves being in the 'diaspora' (ie. persecuted people who left their homeland and are now living in the west)