Homogenizing heterogeneity in transnational contexts: Latin American diasporas and the media in the global north

The study of the formation of Latin American diasporas and their media in recent decades requires interdisciplinary perspectives that help us understand hegemonic and subaltern dynamics around capital/population/media flows. International migrations have played an important role in the history of Latin America and its diasporic formations, and the evolving character of contemporary mobility is also confirmed within their media spaces in transnational contexts. The fueling growth of Latin American diasporas during the last four decades, mainly in North America, but also in Europe and Asia, spurred singular dynamics. On the one hand, racial frameworks and discriminatory discourses tend to equate the Latino otherness as a homogeneous peripheral group. On the other hand, intensive ethnic marketing campaigns aimed at a heterogeneous amalgamation of diverse communities tend to homogenize their constituencies and audiences to form an advertising niche. The foremost movement in these two arenas has been to homogenize such diverse groups in an allegedly homogenous collective one, misrecognizing the various intersections in terms of race, ethnicity, gender, age, class, language, religion, citizenship, and nation. This chapter analyzes the politics of homogenizing heterogeneity and the challenges of studying complex, diverse, and changing Latina/o communities living in a highly mediated transnational cultural life and their media and communication practices.