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Violence at the Margins: Street Gangs, Globalized Conflict and Sri Lankan Tamil Battlefields in London, Toronto and Paris
Abstract
This article explores the global dimensions of violent conflict and the parallels and links between violence in the diaspora and the homeland. It does so by discussing Tamil street gangs in London, Toronto and Paris. The Tamil diaspora played a key role in the war between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which raged between 1983 and 2009. In spite of being a marginal phenomenon in the Tamil diaspora, Tamil street gangs became part of a wider culture of fear within the Tamil community and possibly reinforced the LTTE’s dominance over and fundraising in the diaspora. Although some of the rivalling gangs have been cast as pro- and anti-LTTE, gang violence cannot be interpreted as a direct continuation of conflict from Sri Lanka but has to be understood in relation to marginalization and identification in the city of residence. In everyday life in the diaspora, ‘the gang’ has been a way for some young Tamil men to strive for respect, riches and heroism, employing a mixture of references to gang culture and the LTTE and building on both ethnic and geographical identifications. The larger Tamil community, on its part, has been eager to dissociate itself from the street gangs as they threaten the image of the Tamils as law-abiding and well-adjusted migrants.
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“As Orjuela (2011: 131) notes, 'it was an open secret that the LTTE was behind the greater part of Tamil organizations and activities in the diaspora, while political initiatives taken outside of the control of the LTTE were opposed or silenced.'”
From Non‐state authoritarianism and diaspora politics (2020) · cites this paper as Orjuela 2011: 131
In the citing paper
“Thus, the Tamil diaspora came under pressure from both the LTTE activities and the lobbying of the Sri Lankan state, which at times resulted in a criminalization of the entire Tamil community (Brun and Van Hear 2012;Nadarajah and Sriskandarajah 2005;Orjuela 2011;Sentas 2012).”
From Non‐state authoritarianism and diaspora politics (2020) · cites this paper as Orjuela 2011
In the citing paper
“The UK designated it a terrorist organization in 2001 and forced it to shut down its London office; the European Union and Canada did so in 2006 (Nadarajah and Sriskandarajah 2005;Orjuela 2011).”
From Non‐state authoritarianism and diaspora politics (2020) · cites this paper as Orjuela 2011
In the citing paper
“Similar patterns in Toronto, Paris and Oslo showed that there was an 'overlap between the techniques used by the Tigers in Sri Lanka and the gangs' (Orjuela 2011: 130).”
From Non‐state authoritarianism and diaspora politics (2020) · cites this paper as Orjuela 2011: 130
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Research works printed but not linked: 46
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Metadata
- Authors
- Orjuela, C.
- Affiliations
- University of Gothenburg (SE)
- Corresponding author
- Orjuela, Camilla
- ORCID
- Orjuela, Camilla
- Venue
- International Studies
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2011-04
- Volume
- 48
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 113-137
- ISSN
- 0020-8817 (ISSN-L)
- 0973-0702
- OpenAlex
- W2080829945
- Cited by
- 10
- References
- 36
- Citations by year
- 2024: 1 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 2 · 2019: 1 · 2017: 1 · 2014: 1 · 2013: 1
- FWCI
- 1.77
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- International Studies (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Demography › Diaspora, migration, transnational identity
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political Violence
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Migration, Ethnicity, and Economy
- Keywords
- Tamil diaspora, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, Sri Lankan civil war, transnational conflict, gang culture, ethnic identity, marginalization, London, Toronto, Paris
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- Orjuela, C. (2011). Violence at the Margins: Street Gangs, Globalized Conflict and Sri Lankan Tamil Battlefields in London, Toronto and Paris. International Studies. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020881712469457
