Derived from the Greek for ‘scattering of seeds’, it is used to describe population migration and dispersal (voluntary and involuntary). Originally used to refer to the Jewish peoples’ forced exile from Israel (as it is now known) in the pre-Christian era and their subsequent removals from Spain, Portugal, and Russia, where they had resided for well over a thousand years, diaspora is now used to refer to virtually any mass migration. Slavery in Europe and the Americas resulted in an African diaspora, whereby millions of Africans were forcibly relocated to distant lands. Similarly, European colonialism resulted in millions of Europeans relocating to far-off continents. This in turn led to Indian and Chinese diasporas as cheap labour was imported to South Africa, Australia, Fiji and elsewhere to solve various production problems. Diaspora is generally thought in terms of ‘homelessness’, a sense of trauma and exile, but lately it has come to be viewed more positively as a kind of post-national cosmopolitanism or Creoleness in which the diasporic subject represents a new, more advanced stage of politically and culturally heterogeneous citizenry. See also globalization; multitude. Further Reading: E. Said Reflections on Exile (2000).