American Scots The Scottish Diaspora and the USA

by Sim, Duncan

• ISBN13: 9781906716332
• ISBN10: 1906716331
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-09-22
• Publisher: Dunedin Academic Press

Summary

Some 30 million people worldwide claim Scottish ancestry, making the Scots one of the worlds largest diasporas. There are few countries around the globe without a Caledonian Society, a Burns Club, a Scottish country dance society, or some similar organisation expressing the Scottish social and cultural heritage. Duncan Sim describes the Scottish diaspora in America, one of the largest. His survey includes interviews with Scottish Americans about their family histories, their membership of Scottish societies and their continuing links with the Scottish homeland. Academic interest in diasporas has grown as the worlds population has become more mobile and as forced migration has led to major increases in the numbers of refugee diasporas. In relation to the Scottish diaspora, there is increasing interest, partly as a result of devolution and the existence of a Scottish Government able to engage directly with Scots overseas. The author explores theories of diaspora and how the Scots fit i

Author Biography

Duncan Sim is Reader in Sociology at the University of the West of Scotland and has undertaken extensive research on issues of identity and ethnicity.