Migrants,diasporas and the media

The Sage Handbook of Media and Migration

The Sage Handbook of Media and Migration consists of 54 chapters divided into seven parts. It showcases an overview of recent research on media and migration by exploring diverse concepts and methodologies, grounded in media and communication studies, and aided by sociology, anthropology, political science, urban science and technology, human rights, development, and gender and sexuality studies. Migration means people, ideas and things on the move, with impacts on the different arrays of the respective societies. The concept of migration that this handbook refers to is built on different forms of human mobilities within states and across borders (p. xlv). The entanglement of migration and media that it proposes passes across the fields of political, cultural and social life, taking into consideration power structures and growing inequalities. The urgent matter the editors aim to highlight with this work is how questions of mediation and the politics of representation are being led by global and local politics and how the media contribute to the development of acts of xenophobia and the reproduction of far-right ‘crisis’ discourses (p. xlvi). By standing against a Eurocentric perspective, the editors have enabled the encounters of researchers from different regions of the world as well as of diverse epistemologies and methodologies in this area of study. This is why the prologue by the artist Tabita Rezaire is an invitation to a healing process, a ‘decolonial healing’ (p. xxix), as she labels it.

Part 1, ‘Keywords and Legacies’, has 16 chapters, exploring key concepts in media and migration studies as well as varied and even divergent theoretical perspectives from different areas of knowledge. The editors divide part 1 into four sub-parts which are as follows: chapters 1–4: key terms and theoretical approaches; chapters 5–9: identities and belongings; chapters 10–14: connectivities and digital media; and chapters 15–16: think beyond the status quo. Chapter 1, by Radha S. Hegde, is a guide on media and migration research with a focus on mediation. Chapter 2 by Roza Tsagarousianou introduces the concept of diaspora as one key notion within this area of study. Chapter 3 by Sandra Ponzanesi discusses the intersections of postcolonial theory and media, pointing out to the power structures and their dissymmetries. Chapter 4, by Lilie Chouliaraki and Myria Georgiou, invites us to discuss borders and mediation, with a focus on digital technologies and the upcoming concept of digital border. Chapter 5, by Koichi Iwabuchi, presents a case study on Japan and South Korea by exploring the differences in perspectives in relation to transnationalism, internationalism and multiculturalism. Chapter 6, by Eva Midden, develops an argument on how post-secular theory can contribute to the studies of migration, focusing on the study of Muslimness versus Europeanness. Chapter 7, by Miyase Christensen, defends the understanding of a planetary politics, in the face of the Anthropocene age, through the elaboration of a broad discussion on cosmopolitanism and belonging. Chapter 8, by Alyssa Fisher, Kaitlyn Wauthier and Radhika Gajjala, broadens the spectrum of identity discussion, with the proposition of an intersectional approach to studies of media and migration. Chapter 9, by Donya Alinejad and Domitilia Olivieri, focuses on affect, emotions and migrants’ feelings. Chapter 10, by Dana Diminescu, presents the figure of the connected in the access of migrants and its changing nature. Chapter 11, by Linda Leung, points to the existence of digital divides and their impact on the different experiences of migration. Chapter 12, by Melissa Wall, uses a study from Jordan to highlight the reality of information precarity in migrants’ access’ to reliable sources and messages in difficult situations. Chapter 13, by Koen Leurs, focuses on the importance of infrastructures and their use to create control and surveillance by governments. Chapter 14, by Eugenia Siapera, discusses the political economy of digital media, and explains the existing dissymmetries related to racial differences. Chapter 15, by Kevin Robins, problematizes the identitarian projection of immigrant artists, through the case of the film maker Fatih Akin. Chapter 16, by Roopika Risam, urges academics to adopt an insurgent posture, so they can work as activists in the field.

Part 2, ‘Methodologies’, with six chapters, presents an array of methodological paths, not all of which are related specifically to the media or to migrants but with diversified empirical tools. Chapter 17, by Yasmin Gunaratnam, develops a scalar analysis on researching hostility in the United Kingdom with dying migrants, through a multi-methods approach, which aims to also become a form of activism. Chapter 18, by Karina Horsti, studies media representations of migrant deaths at the border, with a horizontal, non-media-centric approach. Chapter 19, by Kishonna Gray, presents Black women’s political engagement in online gaming communities. Chapter 20, by Katja Kaufmann, discusses mobile phone methods used to follow and observe research participants. Chapter 21, by Will L. Allen, outlines the issues connected to large scale data collection and the need for a political agenda regarding the use of migrants’ data. Chapter 22, by Ahmed Al-Rawi, reveals possibilities for the use of Twitter as a tool of research with Rohingya Muslims both in Arabic and in English.

Part 3, ‘Communities’, comprises of eight chapters, devoted to efforts to engage in mapping diasporic mediascapes, focusing on community formation. Chapter 23, by Tori Omega Arthur, shows this formation through transnational nationalism by studying the African digital diaspora, iROKOtv. Chapter 24, by Lukasz Szulc, focuses on the global communities of queer migrants in the use of digital media. Chapter 25, by Emily Edwards, discusses cosmopolitanized senses of cultural selfhood of refugees in former East Germany. Chapter 26, by Pedro J. Oiarzabal, explores the non-state ethnonational diasporas’ identity and affective capital in the case of the Basques’ diasporas on Facebook. Chapter 27, by Olga Voronova, Liudmila Voronova and Dmitry Yagodin, analyzes Russophone diasporic journalism by exploring the formation of alternatives of media producers. Chapter 28, by Irati Agirreazkuenaga and Estitxu Garai-Artetxe, focuses on a radio’s contribution to the integration of immigrant communities in the Basque Country. Chapter 29, by Madhavi Mallapragada, discusses the use of digital media by Indian immigrants. Chapter 30, by Jessica Retis, compares the media experiences of transnational communities of Japanese Brazilians in Tokyo and Sao Paulo.

Part 4, ‘Borders and Rights’, with six chapters, addresses the intersection between humanitarianism and securitization, connected to international agencies and NGOs, focusing on forced migration and internal displacement, drawing from critical citizenship studies. Chapter 31, by Huub Dijstelbloem, theorizes the notion of infrastructural events in the consideration of borders as entities of mediation. Chapter 32, by Payal Arora, analyzes the Oromo digital movement in Ethiopia in the process of border-making. Chapter 33, by Léa Macias, questions the possibilities of digital humanitarianism in a refugee camp in Jordan. Chapter 34, by Christine Quinan, Dana Theewis and Cecilia Cienfuegos, explores the case of LGBT asylum seekers in the Netherlands, connecting the process of securitization to homonationalist discourses. Chapter 35, by Melissa Chacon, provides an analysis of the media use of internal young displaced women in Colombia, using a life-story method. Chapter 36, by Cees Hamelink and Maria Hagan, articulates the provisions for an international statement on communication rights for immigrants.

Part 5, ‘Representations’, with five chapters, explores the ways in which migrants and migrations are represented in different media, with various approaches. Chapter 37, by Jacco van Sterkenburg, portrays race, ethnic and religious minorities in sports media content. Chapter 38, by Daniela Beghahn, analyzes the representations of immigrant families in European cinema. Chapter 39, by Kaarina Nikunen, discusses the representations of victims in the case of the media European ‘refugee crisis’ in 2015. Chapter 40, by Rosemary Pennington, focuses on popular media for minorities and the possibilities of self-representation. Chapter 41, by Leen d’Haenens and Willem Joris, argues for a multi-stakeholders’ perspective of the representations of migration.

Part 6, ‘Spatialities’, with seven chapters, looks at the intersections of migration and media, in spaces and places. Narratives and practices of spaces and places are either produced by media or by the migrants themselves. Chapter 42, by Saskia Witteborn and Zhuoxiao Xie, examines various practices of migrant mobilities, in the case of cross-border commerce in China and the Asia-Pacific. Chapter 43, by Nishant Shah, addresses biometric identification and surveillance in India. Chapter 44, by Nilanjan Raghunath, analyzes skilled software labour and discusses the relationship between automation and nationalism. Chapter 45, by Giota Alevizou, highlights how digital media can be used in the practices of place making, and the rights across digital and physical spaces. Chapter 46, by Amanda Paz Alencar, provides an insight into the digital place-making practices of Venezuelan refugees in Brazil. Chapter 47, by Elisabetta Costa and JinXie Wang, analyzes the online place-making among the Kurds in Turkey and rural migrants in China. Chapter 48, by Sherry Yu, shows the case of YouTube as an intercultural space, based on the narratives of younger generation migrants.

Part 7, ‘Conflicts’, with six chapters, focuses on the asymmetric conflicts in the experiences of migrants in the face of the need for recognition of their right of belonging, a scarce resource for some groups in several countries. The media play an important role in determining belonging and exclusion. Chapter 49, by Gavan Titley, addresses racism and migration in the media by constructing the notion of ‘problem populations’. Chapter 50, by Mattias Ekman, offers a reflection on anti-immigration in European media. Chapter 51, by Kumru Berfin Emin Cetin, shows how Alevi television resisted ‘communicative ethnocide’ during the state of emergency in Turkey (2016–2018). Chapter 52, by Christine Ogan, showcases the diaspora activism in host and home countries in Turkey. Chapter 53, by Idil Osman, illustrates the need for recognition of the Somali diaspora. Chapter 54, by Rasha Chatta, explores the memory of conflict and migration in Lebanese graphic narratives.

The epilogue of the handbook concludes the discussions presented in two parts. The first one, an interview by Zaina Erhaim with Yazan Badran and Kevin Smets, reflects on the meaning of giving a voice to certain groups and her experience of claiming her voice. The second contribution, by Bermal Aydin, presents her experience as an exiled academic in the United Kingdom.

The Handbook of Diasporas, Media and Culture

The Handbook of Diasporas, Media, and Culture has 39 chapters divided into seven sections. Its aim is to outline the relevant intellectual terrain by presenting key debates and research on the intersection of diaspora, media and cultural studies, which may contribute to a better understanding of diasporic cultures and their impact on our globalized world, the complex networks and flows that underpin it, and the transnational cultural politics and practices that are emerging. Diasporas are migrants or descendants of migrants, whose identity and sense of belonging have been shaped by their migration experience and background (Cohen, 1997). Diaspora migration (Shuval, 2000) is one of many types of migration, and encompasses a motley array of groups such as political refugees, alien residents, guest workers, immigrants, expellees, ethnic and racial minorities, and overseas communities. It is used increasingly by displaced persons who feel, maintain, invent or revive a connection with a prior home. Concepts of diaspora include a history of dispersal, myths/memories of the homeland, alienation in the host country, desire for eventual return, ongoing support of the homeland and a collective identity defined by the above relationship. The term ‘diaspora’ has featured prominently in numerous studies and in the broader theoretical debates within different, mainly interdisciplinary, fields such as cultural and media, postcolonial, and area studies. Based on these discussions, and grounded into Appadurai’s (1996: 3) theory, the editors of this handbook propose the terms diasporic ethnoscapes, ideoscapes, financescapes and technoscapes, translated into diasporic imaginaries, partly through their representation and narrativization that is achieved within the context of the relevant mediascapes. Developments in the fields of media and cultural studies have played a significant role in understanding diasporas both conceptually and empirically. Research has brought to the foreground the interconnections between locations (past and present), and between spaces – physical and virtual (p. 6).

Part 1, ‘Roots and Routes’, explains the nature of ‘diaspora(s)’, their relation to nation, ethnicity, religion, societies of provenance and of settlement. Chapter 2, by Robin Cohen, discusses the origins and changing use of the notion of diaspora. Chapter 3, by Candidatu, Leurs and Ponzanesi, proposes a critical intervention in digital diaspora studies by foregrounding a relational approach that is inspired by feminist and postcolonial theory. Chapter 4, by Thomas Hylland Eriksen, addresses indispensable questions in the research on diasporas, transnationalism and diversity, in the relationship between the social and the cultural, and that between purity and mixing. Chapter 5, by Myria Georgiou, advocates an understanding of diaspora as inherently cosmopolitan, but not as inherently progressive. Chapter 6, by Roza Tsagarousianou, proposes re-evaluating the theoretical toolkit through the study of Muslim transnationalism. Chapter 7, by Kevin Smets, presents a discussion of the methodological challenges and innovations in the field, with the concept of diaspora no longer ascribed exclusively to one disciplinary or conceptual field.

Part 2, ‘Home and Away’, focuses on the economic, political and cultural meanings of international mobility from Latin America to the Global North and the processes of latinization of global cities in North America, Europe and Asia. Chapter 8, by Jessica Retis, argues that the study of contemporary Latin American diasporas living transnational lives, demands interdisciplinary approaches that help to examine the complexities of these heterogeneous groups. Chapter 9, by Niall Brennan, focusing on Brazil, discusses how diaspora and hybridity are indispensable tools for understanding the structural and subjective forces that shape global postcolonial space. Chapter 10, by Denise Cogo and Terezinha Silva, offer further discussion of the mechanisms of racism and news media practices in Brazil, by examining media coverage of Haitian diasporas. Chapter 11, by Wanning Sun, focuses on the formations of diasporic Chinese media to propose a major rethinking of transnationalism, digital diasporas, the Sinophone world and diasporic public sphere, in the contours of the diasporic Chinese media landscape. Chapter 12, by Saskia Witteborn, traces the developments of the concept of diaspora through new technology research. Chapter 13, by Karina Horsti, examines how diasporic communities commemorate border-related death seeking to identify and theorize a previously unexplored research area, that of transnational commemoration of border death, drawing on the Eritrean diaspora and the Lampedusa tragedy of 2013.

Part 3, ‘Cultural Politics in the Diaspora’, takes up some of the challenges of examining cultural politics in diasporic contexts. Chapter 14, by Annabelle Sreberny and Reza Gholami, explores the process of integration among Iranians in London, and problematizes the very idea and discourse of integration that frames much debate in the United Kingdom and elsewhere for presupposing an ethicized Other. Chapter 15, by Radha S. Hegde, discusses how diasporic national affiliations are defined, transformed and remediated within global assemblages of capital, media, publicity and nationalist ideologies. Chapter 16, by Miquel Rodrigo-Alsina, Antonio Pineda and Leonarda Garcia-Jimenez, provides insights into the relationship between diasporas, their societies of settlement, the media, and the audiences. Chapter 17, by Alicia Ferrandez Ferrer, explores, on the one hand, the development of media targeting Latin American immigrants in Madrid and London, and on the other hand, the inclusion of ethnic diversity in mainstream media and the challenge for minority journalists to express different views or to introduce new issues for debate in the public sphere. Chapter 18, by Antonieta Mercado, examines how two Mexican indigenous immigrant organizations in the United States have used transnational communicative public spaces to discuss issues of power imbalance, colonialism, and resistance. Chapter 19, by Ximena Poo, focuses on Chile, and examines the networks of communication built by organizations that form part of the Migrant Action Movement (MAM).

Part 4, ‘Nation and Diasporas’, explores the nature of diaspora(s), their relation to nation, ethnicity and societies of settlement. Chapter 20, by Thomas Barker, examines how the particular historical conditions of Indonesia coupled with the characteristics of the Sindhi community, enabled a small group of Sindhi businessmen to become the country’s leading content producers. Chapter 21, by Musab Iqbal, explores everyday newspaper debate about the border, migration, violence and mobility, by analysing news coverage of episodes of violence in the Bodoland region of Assam. Chapter 22, by Janroj Yilmaz Keles, argues that the mediation of the Turkish and Kurdish ethnonational conflict has played a crucial role in the differentiation and fragmentation of political, ethnic and social identities among migrants from Turkey on media consumption practices in Berlin, Stockholm and London. Chapter 23, by Angeliki Monnier uses Pierre Bourdieu’s concept of the ‘habitus’ to explain the results of a comparative study between two migrant LinkedIn groups, Greek and French. The study shows the symbolic constructions that take place within social media in terms of nationhood and that are forged at the crossroads of the migrants’ motivations and strategies. Chapter 24, by Michele Gonnelli, provides insights from a western Italian, yet Somali and Muslim perspective. Gonnelli argues that Somali Italian diaspora members for whom education was a central experience, qualify as development/social change agents for the broader Somali Italian diaspora, but that they are often challenged in their endeavours by the ‘culture’ of radical Islamic groups/movements in their home country. Chapter 25, by Miyase Christensen and Christian Christensen, examines media coverage of migrants, refugees and diasporic communities in Europe, the changes in the representation of these groups and their placement into ‘states of exception’.

Part 5, ‘Gender and Generation’, discusses how gender and generation intersect with the diasporic condition. Chapter 26, by Alexander Dhoest, focuses on the intersection of ethnicity, migration, and non-normative sexualities, drawing on intersectionality theory and on the importance of digital media in this context. Chapter 27, by Shashini Gamage, studies media consumption by Sri Lankan migrant women at a diasporic cultural association in Australia. Chapter 28, by Gabriel Moreno-Esparza, examines the communication of diasporic families using a variety of information and communication technologies, thereby calling for their inclusion in the study of digital Mexican diasporas in Mexico and the United States. Chapter 29, by Margherita Sprio, explores how Southern Italian cultural identity for their second-generation children in Britain, has been mediated by both historical and contemporary factors and the ways in which this identity has been shaped by the process of immigration.

Part 6, ‘New Technologies, New Experiences’, addresses not only the impact of the ever-changing media and information and communication technologies on diasporic cultures and public spaces, but also on domestic and family life. Chapter 30, by Christine Horz, explores the Iranian diaspora in Germany and its TV productions in public-access channels, with interviews and qualitative content analysis. Chapter 31, by Bryce Henson, in Bahia, Brazil, focuses on the black subaltern intellectual and hip-hop cultures through an African diaspora lens, and argues that thinking through multiple connectivities carves a space for subaltern subjects to illustrate how they engage, interpret and use diasporic media and culture to speak back to their sociohistorical conditions. Chapter 32, by Deborah James, studies responses to the floods in the Balkans by their diaspora in Toronto, Canada, the intersection of diaspora engagement and Web 2.0 style-collaboration. Chapter 33, by Mihaela Nedelcu, based on a netnographic study, analyzes the emergence of a scientific e-diaspora and the mechanisms that led to its recognition as a transnational actor within the Romanian civil society. Chapter 34, by Melissa Wall, Madeline Otis and Dana Janbek, analyzes the ways Syrian refugees in Jordan experience information precarity as it intersects with their ability to achieve social inclusion. Interviews with urban refugees living in and around the country’s capital suggest an inability to develop new social networks and the deterioration of existing ones. Chapter 35, by Olga Bailey and Lorena Nessi, explores how the relatively privileged Mexican European diaspora interacts through social media and investigate how racial discourses are used as markers of difference.

Part 7, ‘Redefining Social Spaces in the Diaspora’, addresses the ways in which contemporary diasporas are redefining social spaces in urban, physical and virtual settings. Chapter 36, by Fanny Christou and Spyros Sofos, draws on fieldwork conducted in the city of Malmö, Sweden, and analyzes diasporic practices of place-making by the Palestinian communities settled there. Chapter 37, by Charisse L’Pree Corsbie-Massay and Raven S. Maragh, shows how the geographically, culturally and racially diverse community of the Caribbean serves as a unique case study to explore how a history of intersecting diasporas can affect mixed and multiracial individuals. Chapter 38, by Joseph Straubhaar, Laura Dixon, Jeremiah Spence and Viviana Rojas, examines the impact of media on identity construction in several diasporic populations in Austin, Texas, drawing on hybrid imagined communities and multilayered belonging theories and the related concept of multilayered identities. Chapter 39, by Mirca Madianou, addresses the intersection between migration and new communication technologies, based on a comparative, multi-sited and dynamic study on Filipino transnational families.

Comparison of the two handbooks

These two handbooks are expressive contributions to the studies of migration, diaspora and media, discussing different epistemological, theoretical and methodological elements of research. This array of chapters constitutes a vast representation of the diverse roles that the media play in the lives of migrants and diasporas contemporarily.

On the one hand, The Handbook of Diasporas, Media, and Culture showcases studies of the intersections of media and diaspora, which represent migrants or descendants of migrants whose identity and sense of belonging have been shaped by their migration experience and background. On the other hand, The Sage Handbook of Media and Migration offers discussions of the interactions of media and migration, meaning people, ideas and things on the move, within states and across borders. The experiences of migration developed in this handbook also contain analysis of diasporic communities, concentrated in one section – ‘Communities’ in Part 3.

The Sage Handbook of Media and Migration specifically presents first diverse theories from different areas of knowledge, in ‘Keywords and Legacies’ – Part 1, and second various methodological paths, in Methodologies – Part 2. The concern of this handbook with highlighting the differences in the power structure of the migratory experiences can be understood in Borders and Rights – Part 4, with a focus on humanitarianism and securitization, and in Conflicts – Part 7, by pointing out to asymmetries in the experiences of migrants in the face of the need for recognition and belonging.

The Handbook of Diasporas, Media, and Culture analyses on the relation of diasporas, nations and ethnicity, in ‘Roots and Routes’ – Part 1, both in the societies of provenance and of settlement, and in ‘Nation and Diasporas’ – Part 4, in the societies of settlement. It also focuses on ‘Gender and Generation’ – Part 5. In detail, it explores experiences of international mobility from Latin America to the Global North, in Home and Away – Part 2. The main concern of this handbook on connecting the discussions of diaspora and media to the cultural perspective is specially developed in Cultural Politics in the Diaspora – Part 3.

Precise studies connected to the media are showcased in both handbooks. For example, Part V, ‘Representations’, of The Sage Handbook of Media and Migration shows the ways in which migrants and migrations are represented in different media, while Part VI, ‘New Technologies, New Experiences’ of ‘The Handbook of Diasporas, Media, and Culture’ discusses changes in media, information and communication technologies.

There are also distinct discussions of spatial elements in both handbooks – by focusing on the intersections of migration, media, spaces and places in Part VI, ‘Spatialities’, of The Sage Handbook of Media and Migration, and the ways in which contemporary diasporas are redefining spaces in the urban context in Part VII, ‘Redefining Social Spaces in the Diaspora’, of The Handbook of Diasporas, Media, and Culture.

The two handbooks can be helpful for students, researchers and scholars that seek to understand the intersection between media, migration and diaspora. Each one of them offers unique and rich studies with different theories, methodologies, elements and practices of migrants and diasporas, thus making valuable contributions to the fields of media and migration studies.