Diasporas, media, and culture: Exploring dimensions of human mobility and connectivity in the era of global interdependency

This chapter introduces key debates and state-of-the-art research on the intersection of diasporic phenomena, media, and cultural studies. It analyzes the ascendancy of the term diaspora in social sciences and the broader theoretical debates within different, mainly interdisciplinary fields such as cultural and media, postcolonial, and area studies. It examines the work of various scholars who have been exploring new dimensions of human mobility and connectivity, that were not adequately addressed through the use of existing conceptual frameworks that had particular histories and connotations. By outlining contributions of this edited volume, this chapter seeks to provide a compass to navigate the handbook’s 39 chapters, which are compiled in seven parts: I. Roots and routes: The nature of ‘diaspora(s)': Their relation to nation, ethnicity, religion, societies of provenance, and societies of settlement; II. Home and away: Transnationalism, localism, and the construction of diasporic identity; III. Cultural politics in the diaspora: Diasporic public spheres/spaces, identity politics, and diasporic activism; IV. Nation and diasporas: Diasporas, nationalism, and the making of national cultures; V. Gender and generation: How do gender and generation intersect with the diasporic condition and impact on diasporic cultural politics?; VI. New technologies, new experiences: Changing media and information and communication technologies, and their impact on diasporic cultures; VII. Redefining social spaces in the diaspora: The transformation of urban, physical, and virtual spaces.