Exile

Abstract

This chapter provides an overview of exile as a historical practice and identifies some of the functions that exile performs. It then provides a definition of exile and elaborates on three key elements: territorial absence, public pressure, and an orientation of return. It distinguishes exile from closely related concepts, such as diasporas and refugees. It provides a typology of exile politics where, given exiles’ goals and methods, exiles act as revolutionaries, dissidents, social innovators, and immigrant activists. This typology is intended only to illustrate the varying nature of exile politics and to help situate some of the case studies that will be relied on throughout the book.