ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines a theoretical framework addressing the link between both transnational and diaspora approaches. It focuses on three groups: the Sikhs from Punjab based in the United Kingdom, and Moroccans and Algerian Berbers settled in France. The first group is acknowledged as a fragment of a wider world diaspora. By contrast, Algerians can be labelled as a transnational community engaged in face-to-face relation with the sending country, while Moroccans present emerging features of a diasporizing group. The three case studies form an adequate terrain for analysing the relationships between transnational communities and diasporas. The chapter highlights the importance of identity formation and temporality in the making of transnational linkages and practices, and the importance of geography in their transformation into diasporic configurations. Hometown transnationalism is one of the most widespread forms of transnational organizing. The analysis of hometown transnationalism opens a window on diasporization processes.
