Media, diaspora and the transnationalisation of conflict

Abstrakti

Diaspora communities have emerged in Western countries in unprecedented numbersdue to migration and rapid development in communication and transport technologies in the age of globalisation. This has resulted in diasporic media playing a key role in enabling a reconnection of diasporic populations with a mediated homeland. This reconnection becomes more poignant amongst diaspora communities that feel marginalised, racially discriminated against and battle threats of xenophobia, Islamophobia and other forms of social exclusion in their adopted Western homes. This makes mediated co-presence more powerful than physical co-presence as diaspora individuals try to find community at a distance (Siapera and Veikou 2014). Taking the Somali diaspora community as a case study, this article explores conflict- generated diaspora, their engagements with their homelands and the centrality of diasporic media in these engagements. The article argues that diasporic media can play a participatory role beyond facilitating connections with the homeland that can enable the transnationalisation of conflict dynamics. When conflict dynamics are manifested within diaspora social networks, the re-creation of conflict takes place, which then facilitates the engagement of diaspora with homeland conflicts, producing a cyclical progression of conflict re-creation.