Quinsaat offers a compelling analysis of diaspora construction through social movements. Supported by interviews, her book is a thought-provoking addition to discourses on social movements and diasporas. The focus on those instances when migrants construct self-conscious collective diasporas directly confronts theoretical perspectives that situate identity formation from the historical moments of departure from the homeland. Rather than getting bogged down in whether diaspora identities are constructed through rupture or flight from the homeland, this study highlights those moments when migrants take sides and mobilize to influence politics in the homeland.

“Activism shapes one’s self and identity,” Quinsaat summarizes one of the main themes of her book. It was not just the identification of the activists that changed; by being part of larger communities and movements, they changed those of wider groups. Identification with the Filipino people was separated from loyalty to the Philippine state by anti-dictatorship organizing. Philippine nationalism was given a new anti-imperialist content by connecting with histories of anti-colonial revolts as cultural identities became politicized... Insurgent Communities is a relatively short but dense book. Readers looking to understand the shifting sense of identification and the challenges faced in transnational activism will undoubtedly learn a lot from it. For activists looking to create new insurgent communities, the book is a valuable tool.

Insurgent Communities is an absolute must-read. Through the meticulous examination of Filipino migrant activism in the US and The Netherlands, Quinsaat effectively demonstrates how contentious politics forge diaspora movements. Her impressive fieldwork, interviews, and archival research effectively illustrate how episodes of contention reconfigure migrants’ sense of their ‘imagined' communities, identities, and corresponding solidarities. Using rich accounts that highlight the lived experiences of Filipino activists, she shows how these episodes motivate migrants to act collectively to increase their rights and political influence, both at home and abroad. By shedding light on how diasporas are constructed and become effective forces for change, Quinsaat's book makes an outstanding contribution to the study of social movements, culture, migration, and transnational sociology.

With Insurgent Communities, Sharon Quinsaat provides us with a bold and insightful analysis of how a diaspora is invented through the political mobilizations of migrants. Skillfully articulating political sociology, transnational studies and migration studies, the book is a masterful empirical study of Filipinos' anti-dictatorship actions in the Netherlands and in the United States, as well as a profound and original reflection about the social and political construction of migrant communities.

This is an entertaining and powerful book on Filipinos living in the United States and the Netherlands, full of wonderful conversations, but it also shows how we all put bits and pieces of meaning together from many sources to craft a world and our identity in it. Specifically, Quinsaat shows how immigrants become a self-conscious diaspora through activism, which has never been a more important question than it is today.

Insurgent Communities is a book I could not recommend more. It is a brilliant sociological study on the political activism of Filipinos inside and outside of the homeland. A must-read for scholars of migration and social movements, it illustrates how a diaspora is not just a shared identity, but instead a political accomplishment.

Joining theories of migration and social movements, Insurgent Communities explores how diasporic identities are politically made and remade. Anti-Marcos insurgents had to convince Filipinos in the United States and the Netherlands that loyalty to the Filipino nation required opposition to the Philippine state, and Sharon Quinsaat’s account of how they did that is compelling.