New dimensions of nation from the political relinking the Urguayan state with its diaspora: the case of the Uruguayan immigration in Brazil

Abstract

comparison to the size of the country’s population, and a considerable number of them maintain ties with the country of origin, by various means, despite having emigrated more than 30 years ago. In addition to other characteristics, the Uruguayan diaspora displays an express desire to witness the evolution of Uruguay’s situation, and to contribute as far as possible to the country’s new projects. This interest, expressed through the constant search for information about events in Uruguay, often via Uruguayan organizations in other countries – Associations, Committees, Advisory Councils – is linked to the state’s express interest, since 2005, in institutionalising this tie, adding a new policy of connection with that diaspora to the government’s agenda. With that objective, new ways of building national identity are laid out, now reaching new dimensions, based on a discourse of national integration which includes both emigrants and residents. It is a more pluralist discourse, in that it maintains the desire to construct the nation in dialogue with its populace, specifically integrating the diaspora. This transnational dimension of national identity discourse is this article’s object ofanalysis.