ABSTRACT
The term diaspora has been in fashion for the past 20 years, although it is more visible in anglophone than in francophone1 literature. It means loss and dispersion as the result of a forcible displacement of peoples from countries or regions defined as their cultural and historical centres. The meaning of the word has greatly fluctuated depending on context, and continues to do so. However, if diaspora is a specific sociological reality, we must identify its parameters and processes, and we must review its definitional issues, which are subject to much debate (Tölölyan 1996; Chivallon 2002, 2004; Vertovec and Cohen 1999; Dufoix 2003).
