Cyber-activism and Political Identity in the

Diaspora:A Literature Review

Shorouk Moneer El Hariry

February 28th, 2015

Submitted to: Ann-Mabel Sanyu

Audience and Identities (A)

Erasmus Mundus Journalism, Media and Globalization

University of Hamburg

Cyber-activism and Political Identity in the Diaspora:

A Literature Review

Introduction

Transnationalism has enabled multi-layered connections between

individuals in relation to their communities, nations and the

world, creating a myriad of changes in cultural and socio-

political landscapes all over the world (IOM, 2010). A pronounced

manifestation of transnational activity is migration and the

creation of diasporic communities worldwide, where new offline

and online connections have been formed, aiming at bridging the

local and the global and leading to dynamic concepts of

citizenship, community and political practice. In that sense,

diasporic communities create new and re-spatialized “social

geographies” (Bernal, 2006 pp.176).

Current scholarship on migration consistently concentrates on

migrants’ impact on their respective societies and their levels

of integration into their new surroundings, while much less

attention is paid to diasporic communities’ political

affiliations towards the homeland and their host countries,

especially those who leave their countries for political reasons

(Kuhlmann, 2010). Considering that these groups are destined to

stay in their host countries for extended periods of time, it is

important to examine their involvement in sociopolitical matters,

how (and where) they choose to engage in political processes, and

how that interplays with the formation and assertion of their

identities.

Furthermore, the rise of the Internet as a communication tool has

had a transformative impact on political participation (Bernal,

2006). Novel communication spaces and practices among individuals

in the diaspora have formed transnational networks, where

individuals continue to “build upon existing social networks on

the ground, bring them together, and extend their membership and

significance” (ibid pp.163). This perspective allows migration

and culture studies enthusiasts to delve into the manner in which

migrants use ICTs to bridge their homelands and their host

societies, and delivers insights into the dynamic construction

and reconstruction of identity within diasporic communities

(Ghorashi and Boersma, 2009).

This paper, therefore, seeks to provide an academic review of how

different diasporic communities in several parts of the world

have utilized the web for political cyber-activism as a tool of

identity construction, assertion or change. First of all, an

examination of what makes an identity transnational will be

provided, as well as how that relates to citizenship and the

nation-state as a point of reference. Secondly, a brief account

of migrants’ virtual relationship with the homeland and how they

benefit from ICTs as both audience and creators of political

content on the web will be given. Finally, there will be a

section devoted to different examples of political cyber-activism

by diasporic communities, whether it was advocacy for the

homeland, bridging their ‘here’ and ‘there’ political identities,

or solely for their individual citizenship rights in their host

societies.

Diasporic communities: affiliation to the homeland

According to Clifford (1994), the concept of diaspora involves

“maintaining communities, having collective homes away from home”

(Clifford, 1994 pp.308). He adds that it reflects “the sense of

being part of an ongoing transnational network that includes the

homeland, not as something simply left behind, but as a place of

attachment in contrapuntal modernity” (ibid. pp.311). The

‘homeland’ concept is therefore definitely central when examining

migrants’ identities in the diaspora. Many scholars view this

‘homeland’ as a center of gravity, or a point of reference around

which migrants construct their identities (Ben-David, 2012).

Though it is a transnational activity, the diasporic condition is

influenced by nationally-based patterns of communication and

cultural identification. However, this affiliation to the

homeland as part of diasporic groups’ identities is anything but

static; it is multi-layered and dynamic, varying according to

different contextual factors (Ghorashi and Boersma, 2009).

One guiding factor is the host society’s context; if disregarded,

we would be creating an incomplete picture of immigrants’

transnational identities. This hybrid form of an identity could,

for instance, be justified by migrants’ sense of isolation and

exclusion from the ‘mainstream’ in their host societies, thus

feeling the urgent need to be active within a community they feel

stronger belonging to (Nagel and Staeheli, 2002) and thus a

continued involvement with their home countries.

“Identity is not a constant and is something that is renegotiated

on [a] regular basis, be it at the individual or at the national

level. This is especially problematic for those of us living in

the diaspora, we deal with so many identities and our existence

is literally schizophrenic. We want to remain actively interested

in the affairs of the homeland, at the same time we live in

countries that [are] careless about our internal struggles and

hence our miserable dependence on mediums like Dehai for a sense

of belonging and for the illusion of home that it creates.”

(Bernal, 2006 pp.161).

A common argument made within culture and migration studies is

that the degree of affiliation to the different linguistic,

religious, cultural and political practices brought along from

the homeland forms a particularly strong factor when it comes to

integrating, versus resisting assimilation, into the host country

(Hua, 2005; Ranganathan, 2009; Cohen, 1997). There is an

assumption that even when some migrants choose to integrate in

the host country and “avoid professing a distinct identity”, they

still maintain and nurture an “imagination of the homeland that

they have left behind that impacts their thoughts and actions in

the host country” (Ranganathan, 2009 pp.710), especially for

those who were forced to flee the nation for political reasons

rather than economic ones.

Transnational identities: Escaping the either/or approach

This approach towards the territorial ‘host’ and ‘homeland’ is

rather limiting, where migrants are represented as having dual

lives, ‘frequently maintaining homes in two countries’, and

taking for granted that migrants are tied to the homeland, and

presents nation states and identities as closed entities that

they “choose, or are forced to choose, to step in and out of”

(Ghorashi and Boersma, 2009 pp.668). While the geographical

territory is important to understand the formation of a political

identity, a shift towards the transnational allows us to go

beyond the nation state as a point of departure.

The nature of diaspora in itself is about transcending national

boundaries, and creating spaces where identity-related concepts

like ‘homeland’, ‘origin’ and ‘culture’ are gradually

deterritorialized and continue to overlap (Ghorashi, 2004).

Migrants are often described as being “culturally bifocal”, and

orchestrating lives through spatially extensive networks (Nagel

and Staeheli, 2002). The paradox here is: while the contemporary

notion of the nation state is waning and no longer has absolute

Hobbesian power over its citizens, the integration of migrants is

an intentional effort dedicated towards reinforcing nation-state

oriented structures. Perhaps then diasporic communities should

not be seen with the eye of a borderless world, but rather a

world where boundaries and political landscapes are remapped and

reconfigured to be more inclusive (Bernal, 2006), concurring with

the view that diaspora brings to the fore forms of identity,

community and political allegiances that are not necessarily

congruent with place of residence or legal citizenship, and helps

to make visible the multiple social worlds people simultaneously

inhabit (Clifford 1994). An adequate illustration of this

condition where immigrants’ political identity and involvement

transcends nationalistic values is the following:

“Although some of the Lebanese immigrants I interviewed seem to

emphasize a sense of unity and shared identity, as members of

diaspora communities they also realize that they belong to

multiple societies and cultures. They emphasized that their

participation in political or social activities are not tied to

nationality or ethnicity per se, but more to their sense of

concern about specific issues such as justice and freedom”

(Abdelhady, 2006 pp.447).

That being said, it is not this paper’s intention to undermine

the homeland-based arguments that scholars have put forward based

on empirical studies of different diasporic communities all over

the world, but rather to expand this perspective to include other

forms of identity construction, where the ‘homeland’ notion is

not the core around which a migrant’s identity or ideals are

constructed. The focus is on the various manifestations of how

migrants make use of the Internet as a tool of transnational

networking to construct, maintain and reform their political

identities, taking into account the different cultures and

discourses that are articulated in a transnational context.

Internet-facilitated political involvement in the diaspora

In regards to audience studies, the Internet is a particularly

interesting case when it comes to diasporic communities, since

diasporic groups are, in most cases, the producers, audiences and

addressees of media content, due to the user-friendly and

interactive nature of cyberspace. (Ranganathan, 2009; Bernal,

2006). The internet is regarded as “the diasporic medium part

excellence” (Sreberny, 2001 in Skjerdal, 2011 pp.729), due to its

ability to make contact with the homeland much easier, and allow

small groups to create media content with potentially large

audience, often with far better logistical opportunities than in

the homeland (Skjerdal, 2011). Internet-based media provide a new

dimension in understanding the ways that social realities are

constructed and negotiated (Escobar, 1994), and have led to an

increased engagement in transnational political discourses,

empowering their creators, users and audiences with a multitude

of possibilities.

Since the representation of diasporic communities in mainstream

media is often ‘stereotypical, if not alienating’ (Ranganathan,

2009 pp.711), the web serves as a means of contesting political

and cultural expressions, or counter-expressions of identity, or

filling the void of information the diasporic public sphere.

Online media are used as vehicles that bear alternative platforms

for information access and cultural practice promotion by

“presenting an entire range of digital (interactive) text,

graphics, audio and audiovisual techniques” (Ogunyemi, 2006

pp.334), especially when the homeland’s media is characterized by

censorship and being strongly influenced by state control, thus

creating a public sphere where the discussion of public issues

could happen with much more depth and variety of perspectives,

something which could not be possible in the homeland (Kuhlmann,

2010; Bernal, 2006).

The Internet is not merely informative, but is also a creative

space where diasporic communities invent new forms of communal

and political practices. “Through their postings, ‘Internet

intellectuals’ interpret national crises, rearticulate (national)

values, and construct community” (Bernal, 2006 pp. 161). The

cyberspace is considered a means by which migrants are able to

maintain social and political connections in several places,

creating and incubating transnational identities. Webpages

created by the diaspora serve as tools that link the diaspora and

the homeland, enabling them to create some sort of virtual

homeland (Nagel and Staeheli, 2002).

Furthermore, the Internet has been used by diasporic communities

to rally support for a national or transnational cause, do

advocacy work, or to reach out to the broader publics of the host

country and beyond (Kuhlmann, 2010), as will be illustrated in

the upcoming sections.

It is important to note that the presence of diasporic

communities on the web has been coined as the term “e-diaspora”.

Diminescu defines it as a “migrant collective that organizes

itself and is active first and foremost on the web: its practices

are those of a community whose interactions are enhanced by

digital exchange. An e-diaspora is also a dispersed collective, a

heterogeneous entity that is constantly renegotiated and redrawn

by every newcomer” (Dimenescu, 2012 pp. 452) through a voluntary

process of individuals joining or leaving the collective – simply

by establishing hyperlinks or removing them from websites. Since

the Internet is considered a transformative force in the

political identity and participation of diasporic communities

(Nagel and Staeheli, 2002), it is important to scrutinize how the

web is being used by these groups for political purposes, and

where they intend the impact to take place.

Cyber-activism for a national cause

The following are examples of e-diasporas that have utilized the

Internet to form global networks of support for particular causes

that are relevant to their homelands.

a. The Palestinian Intifada

Since World War I, Palestine became an important focus for

political action among Arabs in the diaspora, especially Arab-

Americans who aimed to convey an anti-Zionist message to the

American public, where “the identity and coherence of the

community remains closely tied to the politics of the Middle

East” (Nagel and Staeheli, 2002 pp. 8). A great deal of their

Internet activism revolved around the early 2000s Intifada in the

occupied territories by Israel. The ‘Electronic Intifada’

circulated anti-Zionism messages and online petitions over the

web, through its website and via email, serving as a propaganda

‘front’ in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, condemning the

occupation, advocating Palestinian refugees ‘right to return’,

and promoting boycotts against companies doing business in Israel

(www.electronicintifada.net/).

Another interesting example is ‘Al Awda’, or the Palestinian

Right to Return Coalition, which is a “broad-based, non-partisan,

democratic and charitable organization of grassroots activists

and students committed to comprehensive public education on the

rights of all Palestinians to return to their homes and lands of

origins, and to full restitution of all their confiscated and

destroyed property in accordance with the Universal Declaration

of Human Rights, international law, and the numerous United

Nations resolutions upholding such rights” (www.al-awda.org). Al

Awda has relied exclusively on the web to empower Palestinian

activists worldwide and circulate their viewpoints, focusing on

the ‘right to return’ for Palestinian refugees.

b. Egyptians’ #right2vote

Following the January 2011 uprising, a spark of hope and a

patriotic spirit were reignited amongst Egyptian migrants in the

diaspora. Prior to the revolution, more than 20% of Egyptians

abroad complained of their inability to participate in their

country’s political discourse (Zohry and Debnath, 2010); however,

they had not taken action regarding their right to vote due to a

lack of motivation to participate, due to the low level of

transparency in the democratic process in Egypt.

Shortly after the revolution, there was much “uncertainty about

the implementation of these rights, and the status of the

Egyptian diaspora was strongly debated” (Severo and Zuolo, 2012

pp.527), although state-run Al Ahram newspaper ran a story

regarding the 2011 Constitutional Declaration, where Article 39

stipulated the equal rights for all Egyptians to vote and be

represented in their nation (Al Ahram, March 11th, 2011).

Nevertheless, in order to rally support for this voting right,

many online petitions, resulting in on-the-ground protests, were

organized. Since mobilization for the right to vote required

transnational coordination, the Internet provided the appropriate

means. Social media facilitated the creation of links between the

scattered Egyptian diasporic groups around the world, where 227

Twitter accounts used the hashtag “#right2vote” in more than 500

tweets between May 23rd and June 7th, 2011, in addition to

creating the Google group “Egyabroad”, where they synchronized

their digital and physical activism, thereby emphasizing their

digital presence and giving themselves a common cause for

struggle, regardless of their geographical location (Severo and

Zuolo, 2012).

c. Iranian female activism in the diaspora

At the forefront of the human rights movement in Iran, female

activists have been advocating for a variety of issues, including

reforms in the legal system that continues to hamper women’s

rights, for better pay and working conditions, and for an end to

brutal execution methods. Amnesty International states that,

although their activism in the homeland has been peaceful,

including participating in protests and circulating petitions, it

has only been met with pervasive crackdowns from the Iranian

government’s side, whether by arrests, detentions, or fines.

Seeing that Iranians in the diaspora are less bound to be

affected by their homeland’s methods to repress human rights

activism, Iranian women have for long used the Internet to

exchange opinions, rally support and advocate for the homeland,

their online communications translating into offline engagement.

By being active on web fora, engaging in discussions through

Paltalk or websites like www.WomenInIran.com, Iranian feminists

all over the world have been able to discuss issues related to

women’s rights, freedom of expression, politics and sexuality

(Ghorashi and Boersma, 2009).

One significant example is the IWSF (Iranian Women’s Scientific

Foundation), which was established in 1990, and is one of the

most active feminist Iranian diasporic networks. It aims to

“disseminate information on Iranian women’s achievements and to

establish a network of communication among communities of Iranian

women all over the world” (iwsg.org), by providing a platform for

discussion for Iranian women in the diaspora, that translates

eventually into annual international conference where a theme

related to their activism is approached through scholarly

presentations, exhibitions, or artistic performances. On

International Women’s Day in 2004, prominent Iranian feminists

attended a 3-day conference organized by IWSF in Berlin, which

was broadcast via Paltalk and Radio Zamaneh to enable the

participation of Iranian women around the world.

Radio Zamaneh is, too, a very active online platform, which is a

professional network of journalists, writers, intellectuals,

artists and students “dedicated to honest learning and fair

reporting on developments in Iran and the Iranian diaspora

abroad” (radiozamaneh.com). Through content that is provided in

both English and Farsi, the website focuses primarily on

increasing public awareness on the state of human rights in Iran,

out of belief in a cyber-active civil society as a catalyst for

reform, in order to put an end for the violation of human rights

in the homeland.

Furthermore, in September 2014, seven Iranis, three of whom were

women, were sentenced to six months of imprisonment for

participating in a homemade video of the Pharell Williams’

“Happy” song, convicted with “participating in the production of

a vulgar video clip”, what Amnesty International called a

“flagrant flout of Iran’s obligation to respect the right to

freedom of expression”. In response to that, London-based Iranian

journalist Masih Alinejad created a Facebook page that provided a

space for women in Iran to declare their personal choice to

unveil themselves. “My Stealthy Freedom” was inundated by

submissions from Iranian women demonstrating their ‘stealthy’

freedom to pose in pictures without their hijabs, an act

considered worthy of punishment, imprisonment or lashing in Iran.

With that subtle form of online activism, Alinejad hoped to allow

Iranian women to appear happy about their brief moments of

freedom and defiance (Esfandiari, 2014).

Bridging the gap between two worlds

Not all Arab-American activism is merely advocating for the

homeland. For example, a survey of Arab-American websites

suggested that, while identifying with the Arab world and

homeland causes, activists are more concerned with being

recognized as a legitimate, mainstream group of citizens in the

USA than with maintaining the homeland connection (Nagel and

Staeheli, 2002). For example, the website of the Arab American

Institute (AAI) (designed in the colours of the USA’s flag – red,

white and blue) states that it “represents the policy and

community interests of Arab Americans throughout the United

States and strives to promote Arab American participation in the

US electoral system” (www.aaiusa.org).

The website has a page that is dedicated to enumerating the

accomplishments of American citizens of Arab heritage, who have

helped advanced the USA’s political or economic interests,

including the following statement, in bold letters: “We Arab

Americans and our families are proud of our heritage and proud to

be Americans. It’s this pride that keeps us all asking, “what can

we do for our country?”—the good old USA”.

The aforementioned survey indicates that the national context,

rather than the transnational social arena, seems to be driving a

great deal of Arab-American activism, where they employ a

language of social membership, eager to prove their American

credentials and to stake their claims to the privileges of

American citizenship rather than asserting their ties to the

homeland (Nagel and Staeheli, 2002). Some online communities that

confirm this idea focus on a locally-based impact, rather than a

national once, such as Café Arabica (cafearabica.com) and the

Arab-American Action Network (AAAN). AAAN aims to “strengthen the

Arab community in the Chicago area by building its capacity to be

an active agent for positive social change” and empowering Arab-

Americans through “…providing social services, leadership

development, (and) cultural outreach”, while asserting

citizenship rights and positioning Arab-Americanism as a positive

American cultural identity, and Arab-Americans as members of

American polity (Parry, 1991).

On a less-political level resides the Arab American Radio, a 24/7

online radio that a group of Lebanese people to introduce New

Yorkers and anyone who can listen to the show online to Arabic

music and culture, to “let people know that Arabic culture is

more sophisticated than people may think” and that “Lebanon is

not just war, corruption and destruction” (interview in

Abdelhady, 2008 pp.64).

The DREAM Act: Social media activism for the new ‘home’

Rather than advocating for homeland-related issues, or bridging

the cultural and political gap between the homeland and the host

countries, the END (Education Not Deportation) campaign used the

web to help immigrants in the USA fight deportation. It comprised

of a network of immigrant youth across the USA demanding the end

of deporting youth who are eligible for the DREAM (Development,

Relief and Education for Alien Minors) Act, a legislation

proposed in 2011 that would grant legal status for those who were

illegally brought to the USA under the age of 16 if they attend

college or join the military, according to www.UnitedWeDream.org,

a nonpartisan network made up of over 100,000 immigrant youth and

55 affiliate organizations in 26 states in the USA, that

advocates for the fair treatment of immigrant youth and families

regardless of their legal status.

In this context, the country of origin, or the homeland, is

irrelevant in the political advocacy context. Most of the

immigrants involved in the network are from Mexico, but some are

from Colombia, Nigeria, El Salvador, Poland, Chile, among other

countries. Where they come from or how they arrived to the USA is

of little significance, but they are united by one aim: staying

in their new homeland, the United States of America. Through

social media, they aimed to appeal to supporters, petition for

extensions on deportation dates, and gain the attention of

politicians, by getting DREAMers’ stories out into the public

sphere.

A famous example is Walter Lara. On his Twitter account, he

writes “I was 3 years old when I broke the law in this country –

we need to pass the #DREAMact”. As Juan E. Gastelum writes, “Lara

was two weeks away from being deported when Maria Lacayo, a

childhood friend, created a Facebook group called “Keep Walter’s

Dream Alive.” On the group’s Page, she explained Lara’s

situation: His parents brought him to the U.S. from Argentina

illegally when he was only three. He is an honor student, and he

would be eligible for legal residence under the DREAM Act”

(Gastelum, 2011). Had it not been for cyber-activism that was

translated into policy change, Lara would have probably been

deported. Today, Lara resides in Miami, has a driver’s license,

does a legal job, and pays college tuition fees.

DREAM activism is an example of youth capitalizing on the

Internet’s ability to mobilize youth political participation and

amplify youth’s voices in the immigrants’ rights movement through

combining on-the-ground community organizing with new media

tools, thus providing an opportunity to examine the intersection

of new media and grassroots youth-led social movements in the

context of a politically disenfranchised and legally vulnerable

community (Zimmermann, 2012).

Conclusion

The interactive landscape of the Internet enables us to go beyond

thinking of audience as consumers of media content; their ability

to create content on the web, even in the form of comments on

blogs and news articles, provides a more solidified articulation

of identity. As shown in the examples above, the ways in which

the Internet could be used to construct and affirm identity

through cyber-activism are multiple; there is no linear direction

it follows and there are several potentials and outcomes. Though

it is not possible to actually measure the impact of this

activism on the diasporic communities’ identity formation and

reconstruction, due to the complexity of what makes an identity

and the constant change it is subject to, is it clear that

political identity is a key defining factor in which individuals

in diasporic communities position themselves outside the homeland

(Ghorashi and Boersma, 2009). By creating networks through which

they can communicate, diasporic communities, as both the creators

of content and its audience, act as “brokers within transnational

networks” (ibid. pp.672).

Despite the fact that the cyberspace is a privileged and, in some

ways, an exclusionary space that the financially or educationally

challenged are unable to utilize (Bernal, 2006), the significance

of providing an alternative platform for a distinctive audience

cannot be underestimated, as it reinforces their sense of

cultural identity (Ogunyemi, 2006 pp. 335). It is therefore

undeniable that the Internet, as a transnational space where

different physical and virtual positions and actions overlap, has

enabled the reconstruction and negotiation of the multi-layered

nature of belonging, culture, and identity.

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