Abstract
The Handbook of Diasporas, Media, and Culture is an edited collection that focuses on the use of legacy and new media among diasporic groups and challenges pervasive stereotypes of migrants as ‘digitally illiterate’ (as contributor Mirca Madianou discusses, p. 577). This focus is evident in the book’s macro-objectives which are to ‘make a contribution to a better understanding of diasporic cultures and their impact on our globalized world, . . . and the transnational cultural politics and practices that are emerging’ (Tsagarousianou and Retis, p. 8).
The Handbook, co-edited by Jessica Retis (J.R.) and Roza Tsagarousianou (R.T.), is divided into seven sections; overall, there are 39 individual chapters which provide a rich mix of both theory and focused, empirically grounded materials that explore the media cultures of migrant communities. Chapters cover diaspora populations across a wide geographical spread and include those who have cultural affinities with Palestine, Mexico, Mauritius, Trinidad, Latin America, Brazil, Haiti, China and many others; it maps the distribution of diaspora in ‘fixed’ countries/regions, as well as outlining transnational connections at various levels. This offers rich possibilities for comparative analysis that take into account the intersection between diaspora, media and culture.
Therefore, what critical insights can be gained from reading this book? First, the important notion that diaspora can be a powerful concept tracing historical, discursive, affective and material phenomena related to displacement (see Saskia Witteborn’s chapter, p. 188). Second, the insight that the concept is interdisciplinary, traversing the fields of media, cultural studies, feminist and postcolonial theories. Third, that the label of ‘digital diaspora’ refers to the connective capacities of technological practice for those having moved across borders and having lost a home in material and symbolic terms. And finally that diasporic populations use technology to develop networks and connections that turn them into transnational actors in an increasingly globalized world.
At the same time, this book also calls attention to the conceptual weaknesses of both the term ‘diaspora’ and ‘digital diaspora studies’. It points to the lack of a clear definition and cautions scholars about the dangers of using ‘diaspora’ to serve too many conflicting purposes and phenomena (see Robin Cohen’s chapter, p. 28). It raises concern about the term’s ‘terminological laxity’ (p. 3) which brings confusion and undermines existing theoretical advances, and means that the concept is not adequately integrated within relevant theoretical frameworks. However, rather than dismissing the concept outright, this book urges scholars to rethink the concept in terms of transnational, global flows and diasporic cultures and to exercise self-restraint in the use of the word in order to protect its heuristic value (see Robin Cohen, p. 23).
From both theoretical and empirical standpoints, this book offers refreshing perspectives on the global impacts of some contemporary critical issues relating to public sphere theory, race, identity, ethnicity, soft power, gender/generations, sexuality and technology. For example, Annabelle Sreberny and Reza Gholami’s chapter reveals the debilitating and disempowering impact of the official discourses of integration in the United Kingdom on the Iranian diaspora (p. 210). Furthermore, Christine Horz shows that Iranian diasporas who are excluded in Germany’s public sphere and (trans)culture face barriers of equal access and of participation in decision-making processes. Other chapters, such as Mihaela Nedelcu’s, demonstrate how digital technologies also generate new transnational public spheres in which migrant and non-migrant populations can mobilize on common public issues in new spaces of collective action.
Lorena Nessi and Olga Bailey note in their chapter that identity constructions can be highly influenced by specific cultural, social and economic backgrounds (p. 525). In response, many people oppose the commercialisation and misuse of cultural meanings as they resist the abuse of markers of group identity, such as flags and religious symbols (as Thomas Hylland Eriksen discusses, p. 54). Significantly, the book points to the ways that diasporas negotiate hybrid identities that are created through bridging social capital both online and offline (see Deborah James, p. 485). However, it also prompts us to be cautious that ethnic boundaries and identity politics are not really about preserving cultural identity, but are rather about the promotion of group interests (Eriksen, p. 57). Attention is drawn to the veiled racism that marks interethnic relations in Brazil while raising questions about the selectivity of Brazilian migratory policies (see Denise Cogo and Terazinha Silva’s chapter). The book also sheds light on how diasporas are represented in the media and the influence of this on intercultural relations (Alicia Ferrández Ferrer, p. 239) including the process(es) of sustained inequality toward minorities (Miyase Christensen and Christian Christensen, p. 382). Significantly, the book notes that diasporas’ lack of visibility in the media is due to a variety of factors, such as private ownership, unequal access to material resources as well as discursive practices that favor the dominant classes at the expense of others (Ferrer).
Charisse L’Pree Corsbie-Massay and Raven S Maragh-Lloy’s chapter on the Caribbean diaspora points to the ways that ethnicity relates to social constructions based on cultural variations such as custom, religion, use of symbols, language and dress. (Interestingly, this Handbook provides evidence of the use of ‘soft power’ by nations with huge diasporic populations.) Readers will learn, for example, about how China cajoles overseas Chinese media to promote the culture and values of the ‘homeland’, and to lobby for Chinese political and economic interests in their host countries (Wanning Sun).
The book approaches the themes of gender and generation by drawing attention to how some home country nationalist discourses on womanhood have shaped meanings of women’s roles in the diasporic space (as in Shashini Ruwanthi Gamage’s research on Sri Lankan women watching teledramas in Melbourne) and how second-generation Italians create a more fluid sense of identity that is not limited to feelings of inferiority or neglect (Margherita Sprio). Chapters also explore sexuality in relation to intersectional identifications and media uses, for example, in Alexander Dhoest’s work on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer or questioning (LGBTQ) people living in Belgium.
The use of technology among diasporic groups is further explored by R.T.’s chapter, which considers how European Muslims use digital media not just to ‘connect’ but also to achieve a sense of being ‘co-present’ by associating their identities with the traumatic experiences of fellow Muslims in Europe and beyond. Jessica Retis reveals how Latinos in the United States use Spanish-language news media to contest their negative portrayal and in addition to catering to their information needs. Throughout, this Handbook emphasizes that ‘digitality’ is not disconnected from ‘reality’ and argues that there is a continuity between online and offline worlds which poses different accents and problems in the understanding of their complementarity, and equally legitimate forms of our existence (Laura Candidatu, Koen Leurs and Sandra Ponzanesi). Furthermore, it also reminds scholars that racial distinction and other properties such as class, gender, age, and education also need to be taken into account when understanding the digital divide (Bailey and Nessi).
The chapters in this Handbook offer sound, methodologically rigorous approaches to the critical study of diaspora. The wide variety of studies include interviews, surveys, case studies, participant observations, quantitative studies, critical discourse analysis, textual analysis, focus groups, Delphi method, online ethnographies, multi-sited ethnography and data-driven methods. At the same time, Kevin Smets’ chapter raises concerns that research on diaspora and media is characterized by a discrepancy between theoretical/conceptual rigor and methodological fuzziness and multiplicity. As such, it cautions scholars to recognize the limitations of ethnic and diasporic labels, and to avoid looking at ethnicity and diasporic identities in an isolated and fixed way (p. 101). Moreover, it warns scholars to avoid ‘methodological nationalism’, that is, the tendency to always trace dispersed populations to their homeland (Dhoest, p. 391; see also Wimmer and Glick Schiller, 2002). Significantly, this Handbook makes some useful suggestions by urging scholars to adopt cross-national comparative research, combining online methods and different creative methods, particularly visual based (Smets, p. 106).
Without doubt, this volume will become a key reference work on transnational cultural politics. However, while this Handbook covers a wide geographical spread from Latin America to the Global North and takes in the processes of latinization of global cities in North America, Europe and Asia, it overlooks the economic, political and cultural meanings of regional mobility on the African continent which has an estimated 24.2 million ‘people of concern’, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR, 2018). Moreover, its theorization of diaspora seems to overlook the growing literature on diasporic media studies since 2012 (see Ogunyemi, 2018 for a broad overview) and overlooks the roles played by diasporic media in escalating/deescalating conflicts including their capacity to mobilize diaspora audiences for political actions (Ogunyemi, 2017).
While readers will find this book intellectually stimulating and inspiring, they may also find that it raises pertinent questions that merit further studies. For instance, the issue of ‘diaspora’ both as a nebulous concept and as a label rejected by some migrants needs more scholarly attention. Researchers should consider the relevance of this concept in the 21st century and rethink the extent to which its historical meanings reflect the experiences of modern migrants. Instead of using arbitrary labels and imposing preconceived categories/processes that do not resonate with migrants, scholars should adopt an ‘ethnography of communication approach’ (Farah, 1997) which empowers migrants to perceive and structure their personal experiences.
In light of these shortcomings, this collection should be seen as a starting point for scholarly debates on enhancing public understanding of a global migration crisis – an understanding which was undermined by the extraordinarily mixed reactions in the western world. The editors rightly observe some examples of such contradictory impulses in the European Union (EU), noting how they provoked populists who have refused assistance to boats carrying migrants, or have introduced legislation which makes it a criminal offense for both individual citizens and organizations to assist migrants, have successfully increased fears and misconceptions about the numbers of people arriving and their effects on our societies. (pp. 7–8)
Scholarly research should focus on projecting migrants as ‘active agents or doers’ in the digital environment rather than ‘passive or being done to’ recipients of information. Hence, more research is needed on how migrants are engaging with different stakeholders in the host country and are appropriating new technology to change the negative public perception of migration.
Finally, future research should focus on the nature of relationship between settled and new migrants, including the modes of communication to foster and sustain such relationship. We also need more research on the roles of the homeland country, especially those with authoritarian regimes who tend to use digital technology as a method of social control and their impact on anti-regime diasporas (Moss, 2016). And finally, scholars should deploy a wide range of methodological approaches that are appropriate to studying new migrants who, unlike other subjects of study, may lack the skills to quickly comprehend how the system works in their host country. A focus on some of these issues in the future edition of this Handbook will help to address the concern, noted in the chapter by Melissa Wall, Madeline Otis Capmbell and Dana Janbek, that refugees make up one of the most underrepresented areas of diaspora communication research.