Fundamentally, this thesis explores emigration, exile and diaspora as central experiences of contemporary Cuban society and culture but, crucially, understands the processes of experience as lived mutually and simultaneously by both those who emigrate and those who do not. Through interviews conducted in Cuba, the biographical narratives of those who have not emigrated serve to interrogate some assumptions that characterise the study of Cuba and attempt to account for the complexity of the Cuban cultural encounter with emigration, exile and diaspora since 1959. A generational approach is employed to better understand how the absence of family members, friends, colleagues and compatriots has been experienced over several generations of Cubans living on the island. Intertwined discourses of migration mediate various iterations of national, family and interpersonal relationships through complex and often conflictive emotional and psychological processes of separation and absence over time. The manner in which the absences of those who have left are articulated in the imaginations of those who have stayed can cast a certain degree of illumination upon how exile and emigration have been lived in contemporary Cuba, not exclusively as political or economic experiences, but as nuanced social and cultural experiences of diaspora.

The fall of the Eastern Block, the dissolution of former Yugoslavia and the subsequent enlargement of the European Union to include former socialist countries contributed to an increase in the movement of people from Eastern to Western Europe which began about a decade earlier. Among them, the Roma are probably the most clearly recognizable group and surely the ones that received, and keep receiving, more media attention. While their presence in the media as subjects of discussion is a topic worth analyzing, the present work is about their presence in a particular medium, the Internet, as actors and producers of content. As a population of Indian origin spread across Europe over the past five centuries, Roma have often been regarded as a diaspora. Ethnographic studies about diasporas and their usage of the Internet have often described diasporic websites as discoursive spaces in which new, hydrid identities are negotiated and stereotyping and marginalizing discourses about diasporic subjects are challenged. The role of languages in these websites, however, has often been neglected. On the other hand, sociolinguistic studies have highlighted how the Internet provides a space for vernacular language usage in which the relaxation of language norms and users’ creativity play a crucial role in overcoming the limitations in text transmission imposed by the medium. A partial bridge between these two trends of studies has been provided by the analysis of code-switching in diasporic websites, which has shown how meaningful language alternation is used to flag users’ hybrid identities. The study of the relationship between diasporic languages and identities on the Internet clearly appears to be in its infancy and only few case studies have looked at the interactions between each diaspora’s specific cultural and sociolinguistic settings and the usage of the Internet. Furthermore, many diasporas, including the Roma, speak unwritten languages which have not been or are just starting to be standardized. Processes of language standardization have always involved both identity and language policies and have often been pivotal in struggles for nationhood or minority rights recognition. While so far such processes tended to be mostly centralized and top-down, the Internet is offering a space for the spontaneous transition from orality to literacy. Thus, analyzing the interaction between diasporic, non-standardized languages and the identities of their speakers as manifested on the Internet can provide new insights into the relations between diasporic languages and identities and into language standardization processes. The present work investigates these issues by analyzing the on-line usage of Romani, the Indic language spoken by many Roma. The study draws on data collected through an online ethnography from Radio Romani Mahala, a website created and used by the recently dispersed community of the Mitrovica Roma. The data are analyzed both qualitatively, using discourse analytic methods, and quantitatively, using traditional sociolinguistic approaches. Combining such approaches allows drawing a nuanced picture of the phenomena under observation accounting both for micro level, individual patterns of usage and macro level trends shared by all users involved. Particular attention is also paid to the emerging Romani spelling and the role played by individual users in the establishment of shared writing norms. The interdisciplinarity of this approach will show how the interplay between diasporic identities and attitudes, non-standard language ideologies and the possibilities offered by the Internet is leading to effective language codification without the intervention of a central authority and outside the frame of any nation-state policy. Such findings call for a re-thinking of current notions on linguistic human rights. Based on the viability of the Romani model, I thus propose a theory of linguistic pluralism in trans-national contexts centred around the notion of cosmopolitan sociabilities, non-utilitarian, everyday interactions creating open and inclusive relations across and even despite perceived cultural divides.

abstract: “Mix Mix Tayo: The Many Pieces in Our Stories'' is a written reflection, exploring the creation of the dance documentary, Carried Across the Water as well as the community event, Mix Mix Tayo. The ideas behind these works are centered in storytelling, filipino american identity and community. This research explores the use of film, dance, event production and the mixing of elements to create new wholes in order to communicate these ideas. These works were imagined in response to a call that was felt from people actively searching for healing, community and ancestral knowledge. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Dance 2020

Since the 1990s, governments of migrant sending and receiving countries, policy institutes, the United Nations and allied international financial institutions, and migration researchers in the academy have shown a heightened interest in the role that diasporas can play in the development of the Global South. As government responsibility to social welfare recedes and as humanitarian aid shrinks, these stakeholders have looked toward the wealth offered by diasporas. The resultant discourse of diaspora and development, the dissertation argues, is changing the meaning of the discursive construction of "diaspora" in its articulation with the concurrent construct of "development". This presents scholars with new challenges in studying diaspora and transnationalism. The expansion of who gets to be counted as diaspora and its articulation with newly extended diasporic citizenship limits the nature of citizenship to the performative and to the exclusive domain of giving. Accordingly, the study examines the communicate and relational practices of Association for India's Development (AID), a 1000-volunteer-strong migrant Indian non-profit organization in the United States, to critique and expand the diaspora and development discourse. Through an extended case study of AID's practice and performance of citizenship, this study makes contributions to theories about the space of `home' and its relation to the practice of politics; migrant presence and performance of citizenship in the Global North; diasporic interventions in the discourse of development; and strategic mobilizing for broad-based social justice issues. First, the dissertation unpacks the meaning-making practices that AID volunteers associate with the construct `development', and demonstrates how the volunteers' discourse of "development as sustainability" challenges notions of charity and the brain metaphor trafficking in policy reports and scholarship. The study then examines the treatment of diasporic imaginings of home in theory and migration policy, juxtaposed with AID's practices related to India arguing that practices of deconstructing home/nation allow this organization to center diasporic privilege rather than loss. This allows for less common alliance-building practices with populations from historically marginalized religious, caste and class backgrounds and a centering of marginalized voices within multiple diasporic homes. The dissertation also examines annual die-ins by AID's Austin chapter, staged in solidarity with survivors of the Bhopal gas disaster of 1984 that complicates the notion of presence in theorizations of transformation in new forms of citizenship. The study finally takes an ethnographic peek into an education project that used to be supported by AID in India. The backstage organizing work studied, suggests that what seems like a single-issue movement strategically employs universal discourses of `quality education' for organizing multiple publics. The study required multi-sited critical ethnographic fieldwork in the United States and in India, participant observation, in-depth interviews, and rhetorical/discourse analyses of AID's practices. The study offers a people-centered exploration of diaspora engagement with social development, which is difficult to grasp solely through research informed by macro-level and quantitative data. Overall, this work complicates the monolithic understanding of development in current research on diaspora and development, demonstrating that local and transnational actors both participate in, and challenge the development discourse to communicatively and relationally address issues of social development and transnational environmental justice.

In this ethnographic study, I sought to understand the diasporic lives of Afghan Hindus by studying how they discursively constructed their migration and settlement in Germany. By directing attention to their ways of speaking about migration I understood the importance of community and family to the Afghan Hindu way of life, and how the cultural premises of homeland an integral part of their relationships in the diaspora. Speech codes theory is the primary theoretical framework for this ethnographic study. Research was conducted over four separate visits to Germany lasting from four to ten weeks, beginning in summer of 2005 and ending in December 2008, proceeding in phases. Primary methods used were, participation observation, and in-depth interviews. Sites of research included Afghan Hindu temples and family events. The main indigenous term used to describe migration was bikharna, which captured spatial dispersal, relational fragmentation, and loss of traditions. The Afghan Hindu meaning of community was premised on physical proximity and relational connection among Afghan Hindus. The changing meaning of family from the multi-member, multi-generational household of Afghanistan to Western ideas of the nuclear family also figured prominently in ways of speaking about migration. Cultural premises of the homeland continued to inform life in Germany, but were also increasingly being challenged by lifestyle choices of some Afghan Hindus. The temple in Afghan Hindu diasporic lives emerged as an important place, in discursive constructions of community. What was once a place of worship in the homeland was constructed in the diaspora as a place that could bring the fragmented community together. However, the temple was also contested space, as different groups of people within the speech community had different perspectives on its importance in Afghan Hindu lives. This study has implications for the study of culture, communication and relationships in the context of diaspora. Ethnography of communication offers an ideal theoretical framework in which to understand diasporic experiences, by examining the underlying rules and premises of everyday lives of diasporic people. As a case study of a refugee diaspora, this study also has implications for scholarship on South Asian diasporas.

This project analyses the role of social media and small media use during the ongoing Anglophone crisis in Cameroon by projecting social media as a product of new ICTs used to bring positive social change. An argument is raised to address some of the inadequacies that have centered around social media and protest with a focus on the Anglophone crisis. Questions aim at highlighting the positive and negative role of social media use, the role played by the Cameroonian diaspora’s “online activism” and how small media use served as an alternative medium in maintaining crisis status quo during the internet ban. The study suggests a combination of social and small media for community development and social change using theories of media affordances and participation in combination with qualitative ethnographic research methods (participant observation, interviews and online survey). It concludes that even though social media are very powerful tools for information sharing, their shortcomings in protests cannot be overlooked as the success of online activism greatly relies on offline action and the use of small media greatly complements social media use as platforms for alternative discourse. The research concludes that social media (online) activism without ground action (offline) is not enough to achieve development and social change. Key words: ICT4D, Social media, small media, activism, diaspora.

No description available.

Magister Artium (Child and Family Studies) - MA(CFS) / Background: Over the past decade, the influx of Zimbabweans into the Diaspora heightened after the dismal failure of the Land Reform Policy saga, resulting in a political, social and economic crisis. South Africa being the first and ranked highest destination for Zimbabwean immigrants became a second home to these immigrants, however, little is known about their legacy beliefs. This study was guided by the theory of typology for legacy beliefs and generativity, which is the seventh stage of Erik Erikson’s eight stages of psychosocial development. Aim: The aim of this research was to explore and describe the perceptions of Zimbabwean immigrants regarding their legacy beliefs while living in South Africa. Two main objectives identified were: (i) To explore and describe Zimbabwean immigrants’ perceptions and their understanding regarding legacy beliefs. (ii) To explore and describe the factors influencing the Zimbabwean immigrants’ legacy beliefs. Methods: A social constructivism paradigm that embraced explorative and descriptive qualitative research designs was utilised to answer the research question: How do Zimbabwean immigrants perceive legacy beliefs while living in Cape Town, South Africa? Fifteen participants were purposively selected and they participated in the unstructured individual interviews that were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. The data collected was thematically analysed utilising Creswell's (2009) six steps of data analysis and the process was trustworthiness, as the researcher adhered to credibility, transferability, conformability, and dependability. Ethical approval was sought from HSSREC and the principles of confidentiality, self-determination, no harm, and beneficence were ensured. Four main themes emerged: Understanding of legacy beliefs; Categories of legacies shared in families; Re-emerging legacies in families and Challenges in preserving family legacy beliefs. Conclusion: Based on the research findings recommendations were made to immigrant parents, social service professionals and governmental institutions on how to alleviate the challenges that come with being an immigrant and trying to preserve one's legacy beliefs.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / This study examines the evolution of the kin-based organization of Haitian migration to the U.S. and Canada during the Duvalier era. Using a model applicable to all migration, the study looks at two ways in which a hierarchy of interactive macrosystems shaped Haitian migration by generating constraints on choice. First, over a period of 290 years, the emerging world system, the European and U.S. empires, the Haitian national political-economy, and local political-economies have shaped Haiti's domestic systems. In doing this, they shaped the behavior patterns and ideology of kin units which make life decisions, thereby affecting migration choices. Second, at particular times, certain macrosystems, especially at the empire level, have strongly structured particular migration patterns, determining not only their direction but also, largely, their social organization. Structural conditions shaping migration to the U.S. and Canada between 1957 and 1986 encouraged kin-based organization. The specific Haitian forms of family and network processes, discovered through fifteen years of network observation and two years of intensive field work, stem from the traditions of the lakou, the extended family residential compound, which developed during the nineteenth century and disappeared during the mid-twentieth, due to land pressures from partible inheritance, ecological degradation, and U.S. penetration of the Haitian economy. Lakou traditions of joint action and solidarity among consanguineally-linked households inform current patterns of intense cooperation in migration among the nuclear family, the household, and a subset of the extended family, including adult siblings, their parents, and children. Migration structured through this form of social organization has numerous feedback effects on local and national political-economic and social systems in Haiti, the U.S., and Canada. The study concludes that migration evolves over time from the interaction of a hierarchy of political-economic macrosystems with domestic systems. The social and cultural processes as well as the political-economic processes generate and shape migration patterns. \ / 2031-01-01

From 1839 to 1911, Guangdong elites, including Qing officials in the province, local gentry, native intellectuals, and so on, made full use of popular culture for political mobilization of the populace. This study examines the relationships of these Guangdong elites with both the Qing state and the common folks in China and the Chinese diaspora from the new perspective of popular culture. To be specific, Guangdong elites of different backgrounds mobilized the populace in the province to resist the British invasion of Qing China during the Opium War, to revolt against the Qing court during the Taiping Rebellion across southern China, and to push for the pro-Qing reforms or anti-Qing revolutionary movements among domestic and overseas Chinese. In this process, popular culture materials like ballads, operas, and comics provided a critical propaganda tool for Guangdong elites to cooperate with, compete with, or confront the Qing government while influencing the common folks. Meanwhile, the populace also expressed their assent, dissent, and adaptation to the elite political mobilization, by creating eulogistic or satiric ballads and tales, or by selecting, adapting, and transmitting certain popular culture materials politicized by Guangdong elites. / Graduate / 2021-07-17