Long-distance nationalism and belonging in the Libyan diaspora (1969–2011)

Abstract

The article explores the significance of the Libyan diaspora for the politics of the homeland and for nation-building in Libya before the 2011 revolution. The focus is on the migratory flows of Libyan nationals from Libya that resulted in the formation of the Libyan diaspora between 1969 and 2011. The historical analysis of the migratory flows, with a focus on long-distance nationalism projects enacted by opposition groups in exile, is combined with the empirical analysis of the micro-interactional social mechanisms at work in the diaspora that suffuse the everyday lives of individuals. The historical and empirical analysis of the case of the Libyan diaspora provides an opportunity to unpack the mutually constitutive relationship between concepts of nation, nation-state, nationalism and belonging in the context of transnational processes in the twenty-first century.