Diasporas in the New Media Age: Identity, Politics, and Community

Preface

ix Preface The widespread use of computer-based technologies, such as the Internet and the Web, constitutes a new dimension in the study of emigrant and diasporic identities and cultures within the context of the current processes of globalization. The use of distance- and time-shrinking telecommunication technologies, such as electronic mail, cell phones, and the World Wide Web, by diaspora groups has attracted the attention of scholars from a variety of disciplines, such as anthropology, political science, philosophy, sociology , mass media, and computer-based communication. Diasporas in the New Media Age builds on previous works while providing fresh insights into a wide range of dispersed populations and their interactions with information and communication technologies. This multifaceted book explores the richness of the intricate reality of digital diasporas as a true global phenomenon. These groups share similar concerns, anxieties, hopes, and desires, which to a certain extent go unnoticed by both their host societies and their countries of origin. The use of telecommunication technologies does more than enable diasporic communities to connect to their homelands while reinforcing their sense of collective identity, as clearly illustrated by the different studies provided here. Furthermore, Diasporas in the New Media Age offers theoretical discussion, implicit in each of the essays, in order to understand the diaspora phenomenon regarding the use and consumption of technology and media. As evidenced by the findings of the contributors to this book, the impact of technology on international migration is unquestionable, as it facilitates the flow of people between regions, countries, and continents as well as the formation, growth, and maintenance of diaspora communities. In particular , the personal computer and access to the Internet have become quotidian resources among migrants who use them to develop, maintain, and re-create transnational social networks. Unquestionably, there have been major differences in the experience of migration before and since the creation of the Internet and digital communication media. As Thomas Faist argues in The Volume and Dynamics of International Migration and Transnational Social Spaces, “Information plays an important role for migration decision-making. It is one element that helps us to pay more attention to the bonds between movers and stayers, pioneer migrants, migration brokers, and followers. x p r e fa c e Depending on the availability of info on transportation and opportunities for jobs and housing potential migrants can optimize their benefits. Such information may flow along various communication channels, such as mass media and friends who migrated before, but also pioneer migrants outside the inner circle of relatives and friends” (2000, 40). This book has been conceived under the framework of the so-called Web 2.0, or social Internet network. We are entering into a new era when social networks, including diasporas, are reshaping the Internet itself. Rapid technological changes require continuous revision. In this sense, Diasporas in the New Media Age echoes these changes by presenting theoretical studies as well as concrete examples of the digital diaspora phenomenon. The present volume of original essays brings together a solid and diverse selection of authors whose experience and knowledge have been key to accomplishing the goal of the book: to analyze the interrelation between diasporas and global communication media from an interdisciplinary perspective . Diasporas in the New Media Age aims to become a major scholarly contribution to the fields of new media and diaspora studies and, consequently , to help set the terms for future debate. The main goals of this book are to provide a theoretical framework with which to understand the meaning of the changes introduced by technology in diasporas, as well as to understand and explain in practical terms how these changes are taking place in reality. Diasporas in the New Media Age presents a collection of eighteen theoretical, empirical, and rhetorical multidisciplinary essays. Twenty-one academics, writers, technologists, and cultural critics from diverse disciplines (e.g., anthropology, communications, geography, international relations, philosophy, political science, sociology, and technology) and fields (e.g., Internet, media, migration, diaspora, ethnic, cultural, and Web studies) provide fresh insights into African (Cape verdean, Eritrean, and Nigerian), Arab and Muslim (Arab and Uyghur), Asian (Chinese and South Asian or Indian), Caribbean (Jamaican and Caribbean), European (Basque and Galician), and Latin American (Brazilian and Salvadoran) diasporas in relation to information and communication technologies. The book is divided into two parts. Part 1, “Inside-Out the Screen: Diasporas at the Margins of Cyberspace,” reflects on the Internet and other technologies within parameters of identity, politics, and culture. Four essays cover this theoretical approach. Adela...