Migration, Diaspora and Information Technology in Global Societies

Migration, Diaspora and Information Technology in Global Societies
Author: Leopoldina Fortunati
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 295
Release: 2013-03-01
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1136513469

Migrants and diaspora communities are shaped by their use of information and communication technologies. This book explores the multifaceted role played by new media in the re-location of these groups of people, assisting them in their efforts to defeat nostalgia, construct new communities, and keep connected with their communities of origin. Furthermore, the book analyses the different ways in which migrants contribute, along with natives, in co-constructing contemporary societies – a process in which the cultures of both groups are considered. Drawing on contributions from a range of disciplines including sociology, anthropology, psychology and linguistics, it offers a more profound understanding of one of the most significant phenomena of contemporary international societies – the migration of nearly a billion people worldwide - and the relationship between technology and society.

Is There a Home in Cyberspace?

Is There a Home in Cyberspace?
Author: Heike Mónika Greschke
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 266
Release: 2012-08-21
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1136342982

How is global togetherness possible? How does the availability of the Internet alter migrants' everyday lives and senses of belonging? This book introduces an 'alien people' inhabiting a specific common virtual space in the World Wide Web, while the members of this space - most of them ethnic Paraguayans - are physically located in many different parts of the world. By developing an innovative and 'uniquely adequate' set of research methods, the author explores the interrelation of media and migration practices in their own right and sheds light not only on the living conditions of contemporary (Paraguayan) migrants, but also on emerging global forms of living together. The concentration on a single case facilitates an in-depth understanding of contemporary migration practices, cultural meanings of digital media and senses of belonging. The book discusses empirical data, methods and theoretical concepts in a reflexive writing style, allowing readers to follow the research process, and to learn from its choices and challenges which are rarely visible in most research reports. The reflexive research procedure contributes not only to the understanding of social realities in the light of globalization, but also to an advancement of sociological methods and concepts for researching social phenomena in global landscapes and mediatization.

Transnational Communities in the Smartphone Age

Transnational Communities in the Smartphone Age
Author: Dae Young Kim
Publisher: Lexington Books
Total Pages: 253
Release: 2017-12-20
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1498541763

Transnational Communities in the Smartphone Age: The Korean Community in the Nation’s Capital examines the durable ties immigrants maintain with the home country and focuses in particular on their transnational cultural activities. In light of changing technologies, especially information and communication technologies (ICTs), which enable a faster, easier, and greater social and cultural engagement with the home country, this book argues that middle-class immigrants, such as Korean immigrants in the Washington-Baltimore region, sustain more regular connections with the homeland through cultural, rather than economic or political, transnational activities. Though not as conspicuous and contentious as other forms of transnational participation, cultural transnational activities may prove to be more lasting and also serve as a backbone for maintaining longer-lasting connections and identities with the home country.

The Handbook of Diasporas, Media, and Culture

The Handbook of Diasporas, Media, and Culture
Author: Jessica Retis
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 577
Release: 2019-03-14
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1119236754

A multidisciplinary, authoritative outline of the current intellectual landscape of the field. Over the past three decades, the term ‘diaspora’ has been featured in many research studies and in wider theoretical debates in areas such as communications, the humanities, social sciences, politics, and international relations. The Handbook of Diasporas, Media, and Culture explores new dimensions of human mobility and connectivity—presenting state-of-the-art research and key debates on the intersection of media, cultural, and diasporic studies This innovative and timely book helps readers to understand diasporic cultures and their impact on the globalized world. The Handbook presents contributions from internationally-recognized scholars and researchers to strengthen understanding of diasporas and diasporic cultures, diasporic media and cultural resources, and the various forms of diasporic organization, expression, production, distribution, and consumption. Divided into seven sections, this wide-ranging volume covers topics such as methodological challenges and innovations in diasporic research, the construction of diasporic identity, the politics of diasporic integration, the intersection of gender and generation with the diasporic condition, new technologies in media, and many others. A much-needed resource for anyone with interest diasporic studies, this book: Presents new and original theory, research, and essays Employs unique methodological and conceptual debates Offers contributions from a multidisciplinary team of scholars and researchers Explores new and emerging trends in the study of diasporas and media Applies a wide-ranging, international perspective to the subject Due to its international perspective, interdisciplinary approach, and wide range of authors from around the world, The Handbook of Diasporas, Media, and Culture is ideal for undergraduate and graduate students, teachers, lecturers, and researchers in areas that focus on the relationship of media and society, ethnic identity, race, class and gender, globalization and immigration, and other relevant fields.

Is There a Home in Cyberspace?

Is There a Home in Cyberspace?
Author: Heike Mónika Greschke
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 266
Release: 2012
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 0415893127

How does the availability of the internet alter migrants' everyday lives and senses of belonging? Drawing on the empirical case study of Paraguayan migrants, this book explores the interrelation of media and migration practices and sheds light on cultural meanings of digital media, shifting senses of belonging and emerging global forms of living together.

Technologies of Religion

Technologies of Religion
Author: Sam Han
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 143
Release: 2016-02-05
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1317517903

Bringing together empirical cultural and media studies of religion and critical social theory, Technologies of Religion: Spheres of the sacred in a post-secular modernity investigates powerful entanglement of religion and new media technologies taking place today, taking stock of the repercussions of digital technology and culture on various aspects of religious life and contemporary culture more broadly. Making the argument that religion and new media technologies come together to create "spheres"—environments produced by an architecture of digital technologies of all sorts, from projection screens to social networking sites, the book suggests that prior social scientific conceptions of religious worship, participation, community and membership are being recast. Using the case of the strain of American Christianity called "multi-site," an emergent and growing church-model that has begun to win favor largely among Protestants in the last decade, the book details and examines the way in which this new mode of religiosity bridges the realms of the technological and the physical. Lastly, the book situates and contextualizes these developments within the larger theoretical concerns regarding the place of religion in contemporary capitalism. Technologies of Religion: Spheres of the sacred in a post-secular modernity offers an important contribution to the study of religion, media, technology and culture in a post-secular world.

Understanding International Migration

Understanding International Migration
Author: Ross Bond
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 240
Release: 2022-11-30
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 3031164636

Uniquely informed by a sociological perspective, this major new textbook introduces the underlying origins and consequences of international migration, placing individuals within a broader social, cultural and historical context. This comprehensive introduction analyses international migration and its effects on those who migrate, their families, and their places of origin and destination. Drawing on illustrative examples from around the world, the book covers the major theories concerning the origins of international migration and the manner, degree and consequences of migrants’ incorporation into the societies to which they move. It also includes in-depth discussion of how international migration is relevant to key issues – gender, the family, and religion; the so-called refugee ‘crisis’ in much of the developed world; and offers insights throughout into cutting-edge research from emotions and lifestyle migration to the proliferation of digital communication technologies. This text expertly offers students the necessary skills to unpack common myths that are used to inform policy and media discourse, including abstract distinctions between ‘refugee’ and ‘economic migrant’, the complex and ambiguous nature of migrant national identity, and that while many richer countries of the world are characterized by a perceived refugee ‘crisis’, it is in fact poorer and developing countries that see the vast majority of the world’s refugees and displaced persons.

Location Technologies in International Context

Location Technologies in International Context
Author: Rowan Wilken
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 307
Release: 2019-01-21
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1134828330

Location Technologies in International Context offers the first international account of location technologies (in an expanded sense) and brings together a range of contributions on these technologies and their various cultures of use within the Global South. This collection asks: How, within the Global South, do location technologies differ across national markets, geo-linguistic communities and cultural contexts? What are the contrasting or shared meanings and practices associated with location technologies? And what innovative practices and new (or reinvigorated) theory may emerge from attention to the Global South? In exploring these questions, the collection contributes to our understanding of social, cultural, gendered and political relations on a global and local scale. Location Technologies in International Context is ideal for a range of disciplines, including cultural, communication and media studies; anthropology, sociology and geography; new media, Internet and mobile studies; and informatics and development studies.

Research Handbook on the Sociology of Migration

Research Handbook on the Sociology of Migration
Author: Giuseppe Sciortino
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
Total Pages: 453
Release: 2024-01-18
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1839105461

Adeptly navigating one of the most pressing issues on the current global agenda, this topical Research Handbook provides a comprehensive and research-based exploration of the sociology of migration. As well as highlighting the field’s achievements and current challenges, it explores key concepts used in current research, methods employed, and the spheres and contexts in which migrants participate.

Narratives of Migration, Relocation and Belonging

Narratives of Migration, Relocation and Belonging
Author: Patria Román-Velázquez
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 215
Release: 2020-08-13
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 3030534448

This book gives voice to the diverse diasporic Latin American communities living in the UK by exploring first and onward migration of Latin Americans to Europe, with a specific reference to London. The authors discuss how networks of solidarity and local struggles are played out, enacted, negotiated and experienced in different spatial spheres, whether this be migration routes into London, work spaces, diasporic media and urban places. Each of these spaces are explored in separate chapters to argue that transnational networks of solidarity and local struggles are facilitating renewed sense of belongingness and claims to the city. In this context we witness manifestations of British Latinidad that invoke new forms of belongingness beyond and against old colonial powers.