Cyberwars of Words: Expressing the Unspeakable in Burundi's Diaspora

Turner, Simon

doi:10.1080/13691830802230455

Cited by 24 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…What migrants leave behind remains with them, and there are sentiments and publics that are hidden from view. The Internet may help to reveal some dimensions of these emotions and communities (Turner ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diaspora and the Afterlife of Violence: Eritrean National Narratives and What Goes Without Saying

Bernal

2017

American Anthropologist

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This article explores the legacies of political violence, the workings of state power in mobilizing identities around collective suffering, and the effects of political culture that reside in people even after they have left the time and space of war. I interrogate the silence on Eritrean diaspora websites regarding personal suffering related to the war that produced Eritrea as an independent nation, elevated its current president and ruling party to government leadership, and established the Eritrean diaspora. I argue that national narratives of the Eritrean state that celebrate sacrifice for the nation operate on Eritreans as a secondary form of violence that renders their personal losses unspeakable. Eritrean websites reveal complex communicative terrains where power is constructed and contested in ways that cannot be captured by the opposition between the diaspora and the homeland, between online and offline, or between silence and speech. [political violence, suffering, diaspora, internet, war, Eritrea] RESUMEN Este ensayo explora los legados de la violencia política, las operaciones del poder del estado en movilizar identidades alrededor del sufrimiento colectivo, y los efectos de la cultura política que reside en las personas aún después que han dejado el tiempo y el espacio de la guerra. Interrogo el silencio en los sitios web sobre la diáspora de Eritrea respecto al sufrimiento personal relacionado con la guerra que produjo a Eritrea como una nación independiente, elevó su actual presidente y partido en el poder a la dirección del gobierno, y estableció la diáspora de Eritrea. Argumento que las narrativas nacionales del estado de Eritrea que celebran el sacrificio por la nación operan en los eritreos como una forma secundaria de violencia que vuelve sus pérdidas personales inmencionables. Los sitios web de Eritrea revelan terrenos comunicativos complejos donde el poder es construido y disputado en formas que no pueden ser capturadas por la oposición entre la diáspora y la tierra natal, entre el estar en línea y fuera de línea o entre el silencio y el habla. [violencia política, sufrimiento, diáspora, internet, guerra, Eritrea]

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diaspora and the Afterlife of Violence: Eritrean National Narratives and What Goes Without Saying

Bernal

2017

American Anthropologist

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“…However, the potential exists for peacemaking diasporas to assume a more prominent position. Other scholars have argued that online diaspora forums can often help to express and moderate polarising, violent discourses (Brinkerhoff 2006;Turner 2008). Studies that contrast peaceful or aggressive groups across countries will tell us more about the general patterns that determine variations in diaspora behaviour.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…But while there is a theoretical recognition of the diverse interests represented by diaspora groups, few studies have empirically investigated political disputes that arise within a diaspora group. A few recent studies that discuss how diaspora contestations are discussed, debated and resolved through online forums (Brinkerhoff 2006;Turner 2008) are notable exceptions. Nonetheless, there is a pressing need for more studies on the expressions and outcomes of within-group differences.…”

Section: Understanding Diasporasmentioning

confidence: 99%

Negotiating the nation: diaspora contestations in the USA about Hindu nationalism in India

Biswas

2010

Nations and Nationalism

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Diaspora positions and identities are being continually constructed, negotiated and reframed. Nevertheless, many studies tend to focus on the ethnocentric, exclusionary and/or nationalistic orientation of some groups. In this article, I will explore variations in the responses of the Indian American diaspora community to Hindu nationalism in India. The article will focus on the opposition of progressive groups to a particularly controversial Hindu nationalist leader, Narendra Modi. They stand in contrast to those US-based organisations that support Modi and his political ideology. The debate between the two sides shows a high degree of political polarisation within the community. This study illustrates the variations in interpretations of nationalism and identity that exist among groups operating in the transnational political space. In particular, it shows us that the political process that articulates these differences can impact policy in the home or adopted country.

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“…This article addresses the shift from commendation to condemnation within the social mediation of politics in Nigeria. Building on the increasing research on the interface of social media with politics (see, e.g., Bernal 2006;Gerbaudo 2012, Howard et al 2011Pype 2016;Shirky 2011;Turner 2008), I examine how Nigerians use the Facebook platform in unique ways to navigate the boundaries between those with political power and those without. I further demonstrate how these citizens of the oil-rich nation of Nigeria use social media not only to assert their ownership of natural resources such as oil but also to mediate political belonging in Nigeria.…”

Section: The Facebook President: Oil Citizenship and The Social Medmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Facebook President: Oil, Citizenship, and the Social Mediation of Politics in Nigeria

Adunbi

2017

PoLAR

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On June 28, 2010, Nigerian President Jonathan announced that he had set up a Facebook page. Within a few days, his first post garnered 1,344 likes and more than 2,139 comments. This article examines how Nigerians use social media to interact with the state. It asks: How does social media facilitate conversations on what constitutes a national resource? How is social media creating citizens who are simultaneously anonymous and visible? It suggests that Facebook and other sites on which Jonathan established online presences were constructed as political spaces to interact with the youth of Nigeria, molding that constituency into loyal social media citizens ready to align with his aspirations. It also describes social media as sites on which the politics of claim‐making produce the social mediation of oil as a commonwealth in Nigeria. The use of the term “social media citizens” is anchored in the fluidity of citizenship. Jonathan's use of Facebook as both public and political spaces elevated the site to a national forum on a resource whose distribution must benefit all Nigerians: oil. The article suggests further that social media can serve as a site on which social media citizens can critique how the state manages and distributes oil.

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Cyberwars of Words: Expressing the Unspeakable in Burundi's Diaspora

Cited by 24 publications

References 20 publications

Diaspora and the Afterlife of Violence: Eritrean National Narratives and What Goes Without Saying

Diaspora and the Afterlife of Violence: Eritrean National Narratives and What Goes Without Saying

Negotiating the nation: diaspora contestations in the USA about Hindu nationalism in India

The Facebook President: Oil, Citizenship, and the Social Mediation of Politics in Nigeria

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