Book Launch: Clara Rachel Eybalin Casseus

SPEAKER: Dr Clara Rachel Eybalin Casséus

Geopolitics of Memory and Transnational Citizenship: Thinking Local Development in a Global South

This book offers new perspectives on transnational citizenship, memory and strategies of development. Beginning with an exploration of belonging and cultural memory, the book turns to a series of case studies in order to examine the ways in which citizens actively engage with their state of origin through narratives of remembrance. In the Haitian case, community engagement is primarily a grassroots movement in spite of the early creation of a Ministry of Haitians Abroad (MHAVE). The Jamaican case, however, differentiates itself by having a top–down structure promoted by an administration that actively seeks to engage Jamaicans abroad by way of solidarity funds. By treating simultaneously two geopolitical entities, Francophonie and the Commonwealth, this study offers a unique, comparative perspective on a complex web of family networks, spiritual bonds and entrepreneurial cross-border practices at the core of a common Caribbean culture of resilience and self-reliance. The findings on the relationship between memory, citizenship and the State challenge the existing assumption that communities abroad become increasingly assimilated into the new society, whereas, in fact, the idea of a transnational citizenship has become increasingly prevalent. This evolution is enhanced by memory, which acts as a powerful dynamic engine to deconstruct citizenship while connecting beyond borders.

Clara Rachel Eybalin Casséus is an independent researcher, formerly a Visiting Fellow of the Centre for the Study of Cultural Memory at the Institute of Modern Languages Research, School of Advanced Study, University of London (2016–2017), and in the Faculty of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Birmingham (Autumn 2017–2018). She holds a PhD in Geography from the University of Poitiers, an MPA in Strategic Public Policy (The American University of Paris) and an MA in International Affairs and Sociology (Institut Catholique de Paris). Her research lies at the intersection of diaspora and memory politics, youth, critical migration and development studies.