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Both the phenomenon of diaspora and the discourse surrounding it have grown dramatically during recent decades. The phenomenon itself has expanded because of the improvements in transportation and communication technology, which facilitate the maintenance of contact between dispersed peoples, and because of the rise of identity politics, which encourages this maintenance. The discourse surrounding diaspora has also grown because it resonates with the contemporary situation in which boundaries are coming down; and because it accords value to a phenomenon that was previously viewed negatively. Those once categorized as ?exiles,? ?guestworkers? or ?overseas communities? are now categorized as diaspora. Indeed, it is the current popularity of this concept that has inspired looking at the Bugis through the analytical lens of a diaspora.
Although contemporary discourse often locates diaspora opposite nation-states, the Bugis diaspora cannot easily be accommodated by this dichotomy. It is in fact older than the system of nation-states in which scholars position diaspora. The roots of the Bugis diaspora are thus in a unique Southeast Asian system of statecraft. This system not only allowed for extensive interaction between homelands and diasporas, it facilitated this cooperation. The diaspora communities and the homeland provided each other with assistance in a wide variety of forms, including weapons, manpower and marriage partners. Drawing primarily on examples from the Wajorese diaspora, my paper shows this interaction. It also examines traditional Bugis statecraft and argues that the communities of dispersed people could and did function as constituents of the homeland.
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Jointly organized by IIAS the Netherlands and The State Institute of Islamic Studies, Makassar