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Virtual Diasporas

Karim H. Karim, Carleton University
Diasporic Communication in the Contexts of International Conflict and Cooperation.
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Diasporas and Their Communication Networks: Exploring the Broader Context of Transnational Narrowcasting (DRAFT) .

Guobin Yang , University of Hawaii at Manoa
Information Technology, Virtual Chinese Diaspora, And Transnational Public Sphere
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It explores the implications of transnational public spheres for global civil society and world civic politics through an empirical analysis of online Chinese cultural sphere. Three components of the online Chinese cultural sphere are discussed: general websites, bulletin boards, and Internet magazines. The analysis shows that the online Chinese cultural sphere is a heterogeneous public sphere characterized by diversity, segmentation and connection. It shapes state and inter-state behavior and exerts individual and societal influences in more or less tangible ways through three mechanisms: problem articulation, civic association and the mobilization of activism. Because of these functions, the online Chinese cultural sphere is itself an object of struggle. The paper concludes with several observations on transnational public sphere and world civic politics, noting especially the challenges facing this emerging realm of transnational public life. Policy implications and directions for future research are outlined.

G. Pascal Zachary, UC Berkeley
Globalization from Below: diasporic capitalism
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‘DIASPORA’ CAPITALISM AND ‘EXILE’ AS A WAY OF LIFE: Some observations on the political and economic mobilization of dispersed peoples.