#SOSVenezuela: A Diaspora-Driven Global Social Movement
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Ben Homer 5/14/2014 #SOSVenezuela: A DiasporaDriven Global Social Movement Introduction Diasporas those communities which share an attachment to a homeland which differs from their present country of residence, play an important role in state politics a role which has likely grown in recent decades as a result of Globalization. Members of diasporas frequently develop multiple identities (Castles, 2000) forging bonds with their adopted state while often maintaining strong connections with their country of origin (Vertovec, 2005). Social movements in the Arab Spring uprisings, in Ukraine, and Venezuela have all been supported to varying degrees by members of diasporas that by virtue of having multiple identities play a key role in framing international discussion about the political situation. (Eltantawi & Wiest 2011). The widespread adoption of social media and its integration into social movements, particularly during political protests has generated significant attention but the specific role of expatriate communities and their use of media and technology to communicate and play a role in political change of their home state has not been widely studied. Through political activism outside of their home state members of these communities have generated international attention for national causes, often reaching audiences that those within their home state otherwise would not. A wealth of research has been done into the role of social media in influencing political change (Aday, Lynch, Farrell & Sides 2010, Shirky, 2011). Diasporas have been shown to play a role in information flows from countries undergoing social movements to the outside world as witnessed in Tunisia (Graziano, 2012) Libya (Harb 2011), Egypt (Lynch, 2011) and Syria (Lynch, Freelon & Aday 2014), but few have specifically focused on expatriate communities, their role as curators and disseminators information, and their influence on these social movements directly and through media. Because diasporas are frequently integrated into multiple nationalities their influence likely plays a very significant role in international dialogue about events occurring in their home countries which has so far been underaddressed by academia. Additionally, because of the political sensitivity of internal state 1
Transcript of #SOSVenezuela: A Diaspora-Driven Global Social Movement
Ben Homer 5/14/2014
#SOSVenezuela:
A DiasporaDriven Global Social Movement
Introduction
Diasporas those communities which share an attachment to a homeland which
differs from their present country of residence, play an important role in state politics a role
which has likely grown in recent decades as a result of Globalization. Members of diasporas
frequently develop multiple identities (Castles, 2000) forging bonds with their adopted state
while often maintaining strong connections with their country of origin (Vertovec, 2005). Social
movements in the Arab Spring uprisings, in Ukraine, and Venezuela have all been supported
to varying degrees by members of diasporas that by virtue of having multiple identities play a
key role in framing international discussion about the political situation. (Eltantawi & Wiest
2011). The widespread adoption of social media and its integration into social movements,
particularly during political protests has generated significant attention but the specific role of
expatriate communities and their use of media and technology to communicate and play a
role in political change of their home state has not been widely studied. Through political
activism outside of their home state members of these communities have generated
international attention for national causes, often reaching audiences that those within their
home state otherwise would not.
A wealth of research has been done into the role of social media in influencing political
change (Aday, Lynch, Farrell & Sides 2010, Shirky, 2011). Diasporas have been shown to
play a role in information flows from countries undergoing social movements to the outside
world as witnessed in Tunisia (Graziano, 2012) Libya (Harb 2011), Egypt (Lynch, 2011) and
Syria (Lynch, Freelon & Aday 2014), but few have specifically focused on expatriate
communities, their role as curators and disseminators information, and their influence on
these social movements directly and through media. Because diasporas are frequently
integrated into multiple nationalities their influence likely plays a very significant role in
international dialogue about events occurring in their home countries which has so far been
underaddressed by academia. Additionally, because of the political sensitivity of internal state
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conflicts, language barriers, cultural differences, and governmental restrictions on information,
the ground reality in places undergoing social movements is often opaque. As a result,
diasporas, having broad social networks inside of and outside of their state of origin are in a
unique position to receive and contextualize news, and likely play a critical and
underappreciated role in framing the external narrative about what is taking place when
political change occurs.
Recently, a large Venezuelan diaspora community in the United States has sought to
generate attention to political unrest in Venezuela. Approximately 10,000 Venezuelans
currently reside in New York City according to the most recent census. In the wake of recent
political strife in Venezuela this community has become increasingly vocal staging
gatherings in New York and around the world to show solidarity and raise awareness for the
political situation in Venezuela.
This paper examines the role of the Venezuelan community in the United States and
worldwide in generating attention for the current political situation in Venezuela. Broadly this
political situation has multiple actors and may be described in many different ways. Here I
focus on the role of the largely diasporadriven international social movement which has
rallied around the hashtag #SOSVenezuela in a shared form of digital organization. More
specifically I aim to understand the role of use of social media and new technologies by
Venezuelans in sending and receiving information about events taking place inside of and
outside of Venezuela, as well as attempts to frame the international discussion and sway
public opinion outside of and inside Venezuela.
By focusing specifically at the case of a very active Venezuelan diaspora population
around the world, the #SOSVenezuela case provides an opportunity to explore firsthand the
methods used and results achieved when a diaspora mobilizes to generate external support
for political change in a country. The data presented here aims to deepen the existing
understanding of the goals and motivations diaspora communities have when they mobilize to
generate attention for an issue, as well as how social media tools are used to achieve these
ends.
Research Design
Social media has become a widely used tool in protest movements over the past
several years. As a result of their unique role state politics, members of diaspora communities
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are likely to have outsize influence in framing the international discussion about issues of
political concern in their country of origin. Rapid adoption of social media and other new
communication tools is likely to have enhanced the ability of diasporas to draw attention to
issues of collective interest. These tools when used to organize and mobilize large numbers
of individuals based on a shared common history may enable them to influence outside
actors, and potentially achieve specific political goals in their country of origin.
It is likely that use of social media both enables diaspora communities to gain insight
into daily events in their country of origin as well as to broadcast news of events, and reframe
the narrative for an international audience. Use of social media is likely to be a particularly
effective tool for members of diasporas in receiving, curating and distributing information
about political protests because domestic coverage of politically sensitive events in their
country of origin may be subject to censorship or because of language barriers limiting
attention from an external audience. Because members of diasporas have elements of shared
identity with their country of origin and present state of residence, they are in a key position to
influence international discussion and action in relation to events in their country of origin,
especially if that community plays a significant role in the politics of a powerful or influential
country such as the United States.
The Arab Spring uprisings, Occupy Wall Street in the United States, Euromaidan in
Ukraine and other social movements that have occurred in the past decade have used social
media to generate attention and mobilize popular movements for political ends. While
causality between use of social media and political change has been difficult to prove, it is, as
Joshua Tucker of the NYU Social Media and Political Participation lab put it “becoming
increasingly difficult to imagine protests that do not involve social media." (personal
communication 2014) The use of social media has become ubiquitous in social movements. A
better understanding of the ways in which these tools are being used by diaspora
communities is likely to provide insights into the role of these important but understudied
actors in international politics.
Methodology
In order to identify the motivations of Venezuelan protesters in New York and better
understand diaspora use of social media, and its results this study adopts a mixed methods
research approach involving surveys of individuals participating in activism around the world,
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semistructured interviews of members of the Venezuelan diaspora, as well as firsthand
observations drawn from inperson gatherings in New York City.
This research has two primary aims. First, to better understand the goals and
motivations of diaspora communities in organizing to generate external support for issues of
mutual interest in their country of origin. And second, to understand the role of social media
tools and new media technology in achieving these ends. Semistructured interviews have
been undertaken with activist members of the Venezuelan community in an effort to
understand their motivations, goals, and how social media tools play into achieving these
goals. The survey was distributed via social media to those supporting the Venezuelan protest
movement online in order to reach a wider range of activists and members of the diaspora
community and generate further insights with a larger sample size.
Participants & Data Gathering Tools
Diffusion of leadership in modern social movements has been facilitated by use of new
technology and social media. This trend has characterised the most recent Venezuelan
protest movement making it difficult to identify specific individuals in positions of leadership.
This presents a major challenge to research when it comes to identifying specific actors in the
Venezuelan case as well as more broadly in understanding all the parties and interests
involved in social movements which have taken place during the digital age. Because social
media provides a degree of anonymity, online activism likely has a lower barrier to entry for
activists than in person protests. As a result, it is difficult to identify key influencers to interview
directly, as well as to gain an understanding of the varied interests involved in these protests.
It may also be possible for an online activist to have a higher influence through use of social
media than through offline activism, and to do so without publicly identifying as a leader. It
should be noted that this anonymity may also be used by various actors for nefarious
purposes, or for an online form of counterrevolution without identifying one’s interests or
backers.
In order to gain the broadest possible insights into the motives, goals and influence of
the Venezuelan diaspora in the current political conflict in Venezuela, and into the role of
diasporas in national social movements more broadly this research focuses on reaching two
primary groups. First, those who are members of social media groups which are affiliated with
the #SOSVenezuela hashtag such as the Facebook group sosVenezuela2014 which has
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more than 200,000 members, and smaller regional Facebook groups such as
sosvenezuelanyc. Efforts were made to engage members of these groups in an online
questionnaire to understand who they are, their interests, and the methods they use to pursue
these interests. Second, through semistructured interviews with specific individuals likely to
have outsize influence or knowledge of the social movement, an attempt is made to
understand some of the more indepth nationalidentity driven motivations of leaders of these
online groups, prominent VenezuelanAmerican activists, and others with significant influence
either as a result of social media presence or prior celebrity.
Ethics
Because this research deals with a highly politicized issue, namely mass mobilization
in opposition to the standing government of a state, and because it deals with online activity,
there are a number of critical ethical issues to consider. First, in regards to bias, it is important
to note that it is likely that the majority of those members of the Venezuelan diaspora who
have engaged in political activism related to Venezuela may have strong motivations for
hostility toward, the present government, because the policies of the present government may
have played a role in their departure from the country. While there are supporters of the
current government in Venezuela in the diaspora community and those who actively oppose
to the government while currently residing in Venezuela, these individuals are likely to be
fewer in number which will likely be reflected in survey responses. Because the majority of
research participants are members of the diaspora it is important to attempt to identify their
motivations and interests to ensure data is not excessively influenced by any specific interest
group.
The role of online data collection is another factor that is susceptible to outside
influence, as online anonymity, and the distribution of the survey through social media may
increase the likelihood that specific interests attempt to game responses to present their
viewpoint as the predominant one.
Finally, confidentiality has been critical to ensure that participants feel comfortable
honestly discussing the sensitive political topics. Although diaspora community members are
likely to be far more vocal than those currently living in their country of origin, may research
subjects have family and / or friends still living in this country who could possibly be
endangered as a result of political statements made publicly by those they know. Additionally,
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it is possible that activism could play a role in preventing them from being able to return to
Venezuela, so it has been important to offer complete confidentiality and provide anonymity to
those who request it.
Procedure
Semistructured interviews begin with basic demographic and personal information in
order to better understand the backgrounds of who those members of the Venezuelan
diaspora who have taken on positions of leadership in the current social movement in support
of Venezuela. It then proceeds with questions to delve deeper into their motivations and
interests in political activism as well as the tools they use to achieve these ends.
The questionnaire follows a similar trajectory and question flow as the semistructured
interview, but with a stronger focus on demographics as it is intended to reach a broad
audience ranging from those who are heavily involved in activism online and in person, to
those who may simply have been prompted to become a member of a Facebook group in
support of the #SOSVenezuela movement at the suggestion of a friend. It utilizes primarily
multiple choice questions of which respondents can select more than one response. Because
the survey is targeted at a broad range of individuals who may simply be a member of a social
network group and not actively engaged in the #SOSVenezuela movement it is intended to
take under ten minutes to complete.
Data Analysis:
This research seeks to better understand the demographics, goals and motivations of
individuals involved in activism related to the current political situation in Venezuela. These
individuals include members of international diaspora communities (those communities which
share an attachment to a homeland which differs from their present country of residence,) as
well a smaller number of current Venezuelan residents and nonVenezuelans interested in the
current Venezuelan political situation.
In order to reach this population, a survey was distributed via the largest Facebook
page (https://www.facebook.com/sosVenezuela2014) focused on the current social
movement in Venezuela Analysis of data from this survey provides insight into demographics,
stated goals, and desired outcomes of a significant group who are involved in shaping public
opinion related to current political situation in Venezuela. As of Sunday April 26 2014 when
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the survey was closed this group had 205,652 likes. 256 surveys were completed. 6 partial
surveys were recorded but data from these not used. This sample size is significant to provide
an 89% confidence level with a margin of error of 5%.
For added depth, semistructured interviews with activist members of the Venezuelan
community provide additional insight into motivations and goals of those involved in the social
movement around the current Venezuelan political situation as well as how social media tools
are used to achieve these goals. Interviews with academics and members of the media
familiar with the politics of the country provide further historical and political context.
Findings
Survey respondents were located around the world and extremely highly
educated. The highest number of respondents, 44% were located in the United States, but
there were also significant numbers in Europe, and South America, including 24 from
Venezuela itself.
Table 1: Locations of Respondents (by region):
Because the research aims to better understand individual notions of identity and
nationality, many questions including those about location were left openended. This allowed
for increased selfexpression but also presented some challenges in standardizing locations.
For clarity, the data is normalized by region above. A word cloud provides greater granularity
in locations of respondents (below).
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Figure 1: SelfReported Locations of Respondents:
Respondents are extremely highly educated. This is perhaps not surprising
considering that many respondents are first or second generation Venezuelans who had the
economic resources to emigrate from Venezuela. Nevertheless the extent of their education is
striking. More than 90% attended at least some college and 40% have a masters degree or
above.
Table 2: SelfReported Education Level
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Education level is reflected in respondent careers, with many engineers, scientists,
technology workers and doctors. As highly educated members of the countries in which they
now reside they it is likely that they have significant influence in their new country, particularly
related to Venezuela. Though difficult to measure directly this influence may be used to affect
change through digital and in person activism as well as through more subtle influence as
respected members of their current communities.
Figure 2: Selfreported Occupation
When it comes to reasons for activism, those involved tend to share a desire for a
more democratic Venezuela, but also expressed multiple reasons for their involvement
beyond this. The three most common reasons provided for involvement were broadly “desire
to change life in Venezuela”, concerns over a “backslide of democracy toward dictatorship”
and “desire to change political leadership” in the country. Haydee Izagiurre, the creator of the
largest SOS Venezuela Facebook page described her goals this way:
There's nothing that I would want more than to be able to go back to Venezuela
and have the same advancement opportunities as I have in the US, and if that
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happened I would go back, but it's not possible. Everyone that's abroad we're outside
of Venezuela because we had to leave in order to advance economically, politically,
socially...and that’s why everyone is so involved is because maybe it opens a door for
us to go back and that’s a feeling that resonates across Venezuelans abroad.
After the democracyfocused goals above, the next most cited reason for activism was
“to generate support out of Venezuela”, indicating that respondents recognize the importance
of affecting outside support, and their potentially influential role in generating this outside
support.
Table 3: What prompted you to get involved in activism related to the protests in Venezuela?
(Pick no more than three main reasons)
Discussion
Those involved in the social movement related to the current political situation in
Venezuela are highly educated with highly skilled jobs. This supports the hypothesis that they
are likely highly influential members of the international community. It suggests that they have
multiple motivations and goals for their participation in this social movement, and that they are
directly seeking to influence international public opinion through social media activism and in
person demonstrations.
Though the social movement is global and decentralized, there is a high degree of
coordination and thought that goes into media strategies undertaken by participants. In
speaking with many of those involved, it becomes clear that their discourse takes place with a
highly nuanced understanding of media, the importance of its use in generating attention to
their cause, and the role that the international and domestic Venezuelan media has played in
shaping international understanding of the political turmoil that is taking place. In part this is
due to the nature of the opposition, the current Venezuelan social movement has been driven
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to a large extent by the wealthy elite. But it is also a function of the media makeup in
Venezuela, a country in which domestic media is extremely polarized and where Twitter has
become widely used for direct unfiltered political speech by both progovernment and
opposition leaders.
In this context, the government, the opposition and other influencers have used media
to participate in a highly democratic and complex discourse, and internet media has been a
critical component of this. "Twitter is very important in Venezuelan politics" says Felippe
Ramos a Brazilian sociologist who is currently doing research in Caracas. Venezuela had the
4th highest penetration of Twitter users in the world according to a November 2013 study by
PeerReach.
According to Ramos, media was one of the key actors responsible for a 2002
attempted coup against the former president, but, he adds “in 2002 the internet was not as big
as it is now.” Following the unsuccessful coup, Chavez took several steps to crack down on
domestic media outlets. In the absence of free domestic media, the internet took on a growing
political role, one which Chavez was eventually forced to acknowledge. Despite initially
denouncing Twitter as a "tool of terror" in February 2010, Chavez changed tactics only a few
months later creating a Twitter account in April that quickly grew to be the most popular in the
country with more than four million followers. Rather than banning Twitter, Chavez decided to
join it. In so doing, he acknowledged its usefulness "a weapon that also needs to be used by
the revolution." (Telegraph 2010) As a result he took part in shaping the narrative through
what had arguably become the most important media platform in use in the country.
Wellorchestrated and large scale social media campaigns have also been successful
at generating significant international attention to Venezuela around such issues as the
Oscars. By targeting celebrities on Twitter in the week leading up to the Academy Awards,
nominated actors were bombarded on Twitter by thousands of Venezuelans, and successfully
drew support from Jared Leto in his acceptance speech for Best Supporting Actor. In
Venezuela, the broadcast was not shown for the first time in decades, and Venezuelan
minister of Communication and Information Delcy Rodriguez specifically denounced the
campaign, tweeting "Rightwing extremists are lobbying in Hollywood, looking for
pronouncements against Venezuela at the Oscars!" (de la Fuente 2014) In speaking with
Venezuelans in the U.S., the example of the #OscarsForVenezuela campaign is repeatedly
discussed as an example of the power of the global Venezuelan community to rally support
through a hashtag.
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Though some clear leaders have emerged, most of those participating in online
activism and in person protests have few if any personal political ambitions. “It’s not
something I had planned” said Natalie Chacin, a graduate student in digital marketing at NYU
who got involved in online activism in February 2014 soon after the student protests began.
Chacin moved to the U.S. from Venezuela when she was 14, and became involved in the
movement by primarily through social media as she followed events primarily through
firsthand accounts from people who were in the streets. “As I collected information I would
retweet but translate in English, not everyone understands Spanish. I thought, I live in the
States, I speak English, so that’s been my focus,” said Chacin. But she also expressed the
need to balance between work and activism. “I'll continue to do it as a venezuelan, I have no
interest in being part of something bigger, [as opposed to education and career] it's not my
priority...but everything makes a difference in our lives so we can't be indifferent to this type of
situation.” (personal communication 2014) She views her role as educating, trying to
generate outside awareness of the situation, particularly in regards to human rights violations
as much as she can.
Conclusion
This research supports the assertion that members of the Venezuelan diaspora are
welleducated, likely influential members of the elite of their adopted nations, with a deep
understanding of the role played by media and the potential impact of their influence. It
provides insight into motivations this community as well shared values which translate into
political goals. Finally, it shows how social media and new technology is being used by the
Venezuelan diaspora community for social mobilization and to achieve political ends.
Though this study focuses on a relatively small sample of Venezuelan members of the
SOSVenezuela2014 Facebook group, and interviews with Venezuelan Americans seeking to
generate attention to the current political situation in Venezuela, the emphasis on specific
motives and shared political goals is likely indicative of the aims of the larger global
Venezuelan diaspora community. Through a deeper understanding of information flows
between citizens currently residing in Venezuela, the approximately one million members of
the global Venezuelan diaspora and the various communities in which these expat
Venezuelans now reside it may also be possible to gain wider insight into patterns of modern
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diaspora communication flows within the global political system beyond the Venezuelan
diaspora alone.
As a highly educated population, many of whom hold prestigious jobs in their new
nations of residence, members of the Venezuelan diaspora are likely to be affluent and highly
influential in their local communities. This very likely translates into political power, especially
in countries where they form a substantial national bloc. In the United States, while difficult to
show direct causation it seems plausible that this influence has played a major role in
generating support for from Hollywood as in the #OscarsforVenezuela campaign, as well as
on Capitol Hill, where the Venezuelan lobby, particularly strong in South Florida, has drawn
calls for economic sanctions against the Venezuelan government from Senator Marco Rubio
and Congresswoman Ileana RosLehtinen, both of whom represent the large
VenezuelanAmerican constituency in Florida.
New media technologies and social media are used by diasporas to facilitate
international organization and communication. The availability and widespread adoption of
these technologies is a new development. In discussions with Venezuelans many of the
technologies frequently referenced (Twitter, Zello, WhatsApp) are less than a decade old, and
those that are slightly older (Facebook, SMS) are now reaching later adopters of technology.
As the Venezuela case demonstrates, use of this technology makes it possible today for
diaspora communities to play a role in international politics that was far more difficult to
achieve in the past, as supranational actors. In turn this phenomena will affect interactions
between states and citizens, and is likely to erode traditional notions of state sovereignty.
Because of this, further study of diaspora communities in the politics of their country of origin
and their adopted states should be critical both to states and to individual citizens seeking to
understand the role of political change in the 21st century.
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