Approaches to diaspora engagement in the Netherlands

This book chapter analyses diaspora engagement as a policy issue that has prominently come to the fore in Dutch development and peacebuilding thinking. This has led to many initiatives and programmes that hinge on the ideal of migrants as partners who can complement the efforts of the official development industry. In practice, however, efforts to establish collaboration and exchange with diaspora groups regularly point to migrants’ perceived lack of professionalism and to their fragmented nature as significant threats. These challenges are rooted in problematic understandings of ‘civil society’ and ‘participation’ with regard to the reality of transnational migrant groups.