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This paper investigates how diasporic and transnational communities evolve by analysing how networks of power are established and enhanced, both locally and transnationally. As part of a process of diversification in the Senegalese community in Italy, for example, a new elite of educated young men is emerging. This process of elite formation proves to be both local and transnational in multiple ways. It is argued that focusing on processes of elite formation within migrant communities will not only enhance our understanding of the internal dynamics of these communities but will also show how these may intersect with processes of power in the host country, the country of origin and the larger diaspora. Such an approach can contribute more generally to the study of elite change and continuity under globalisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]