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Abstract
Identity is a term that has sparked criticisms in the academic debates, with some scholars fully embracing this rather insufficiently defined concept, whereas others militate for its complete removal from the vocabulary of social sciences. However, in spite of the fierce criticism, identity research has become a central part of the social sciences. Striving to address some of the existing challenges in identity scholarship, the research presented in this article focuses on the diaspora identity narratives of Romanians in Ireland. By adopting a constructivist perspective on identity, this is a study of the continuously flowing boundaries between 'us' and 'them', as well as of the boundaries where the symbolic space is negotiated and identities are fiercely debated, constructed and re-constructed. While Romanians use a multitude of 'other' groups against which they construct their diaspora identities, one of the key markers used in their identity narratives is their relation with the ancestral homeland. Interesting findings have emerged, as Romanians talked about their mixed feelings towards their homeland and their fellow countrymen. As these narratives of the homeland unfold, it becomes clear they bear a strong imprint on their diaspora identity and feelings of belonging. The study presents an analysis of data collected over a six-year period (2004-2010) in the archives of the online discussion forum of the Romanian community from Ireland.

Intro -- Diasporas: Revisiting and Discovering -- Table of Contents -- Preface -- Section I: Diasporic Feelings and Belonging -- Introduction -- Migrants' Hearts: This Land is Not My Home -- Sites of Belonging: Caribbean and African Diasporas in Ethiopia -- Un/Settling Malaysia: Diaspora and National Desire -- Afro-French Subjectives and French Postcolonial Nationalisms -- Home to Hong Kong: The Linguistic Desplacement and Imaginary Diaspora in Anglophone Hong Kong Literature -- The Jewish Diasporas from France to Montreal: Situational Identity and Multi-Centred Diasporas -- The Narrative of Cultural Identity: An Opening for Collective Action among the Sri Lankan Tamil Diasporas In Toronto -- Shopping Around for Diasporic Indentities: Brand Names, The Cultural Industry and the Politics of Consumption in the Work of Wayson Choy and Gautam Malkani -- Section II: Engagment with Homeland -- Introduction -- Breaking up a Diasporic Homeland: Xinyi as a Qioxiang in Post 1978 China -- Beyond the Sea: Geographies of Mobility and Memory in Quy Nhon, Vietnam -- Understanding Motivations for Trans-National Engagement: Diaspora Supported Development - The Jamaican Case -- Section III: Us and Them -- Introduction -- Immigrants in their Own Country: Negotiations on Dimensions of Finnishness in the Aland Islands -- Pre-Immigration Profiles of Potential Ethnic Migrants from Finnish Diaspora in Russia - A Social Psychological Study -- Who do They Think They Are? Online Narratives among Romanian Diaspora in Ireland -- Taiwan: Republic of China or Republic of Confusion -- Local Identification and Authenticity Among the Irish Diaspora in England -- Romany Roots: Gypsies and Travellers in Britain Sustaining Belonging and Identity over 600 Years of Nomadising -- The Inclusion of Global Migrants: A Model and Suggestions For Research and Policy.