Transnationalism beyond migrant and second-generation experiences: ethnic diasporism, diasporic localism and impersonal transnationalism

This article adopts a diasporist perspective to examine cross-border engagements among long-established, multigenerational diasporas. Focusing on the Armenian case, it demonstrates how intergenerational efforts to preserve and (re)produce ethnocultural differences across multilocal imperial and national contexts, defined as ethnic diasporism, are inherently transnational. The article then introduces the concept of impersonal transnationalism to describe cross-border connections that develop without personal mobility or interpersonal ties, mediated through transnationally embedded diasporic institutions. Drawing on qualitative studies with second- and third-generation Armenian-Americans, this research highlights how commitments to locally established diasporic institutions and participation in localized transcultural practices, defined as diasporic localism, also foster transnational awareness, connections, and a sense of transnational belonging, thereby extending the concept of transnationalism beyond personal cross-border engagement or mobility.