Full Description
Present-day migration takes place in a world characterized by the compression of time and space, with cheaper air travel and the existence of new communication technologies - the internet in particular - making it easier to stay in contact with the places, people and cultures that one has left. This book investigates the online organization of, and exchanges within, the global Indian diaspora. Bringing together research from around the world and presenting studies drawn from the US, Europe and India, it engages with theoretical and methodological debates concerning the shaping and transformation of migrant culture in emerging sites of sociality, and explores issues such as religion, citizenship, nationalism, region and caste as they relate to Indian identity in global, transnational contexts. With detailed empirical case studies showing both how members of the Indian diaspora connect with one other and 'life at home' and how institutions in India maintain such links, Indian Transnationalism Online sheds light on the ways in which information and communication technology functions as both a catalyst and indicator of contemporary socio-cultural change. As such it will be of interest to sociologists, anthropologists, political scientists and studies of cultural studies working in the areas of migration, transnationalism and ethnic studies.
Contents
Chapter 1 IntroductionMigrant Transnationalism and the Internet, Johannes G. de Kruijf; Part I Identity; Chapter 1a Performing Transnational Identity Online: Women Blogging from Domestic Spaces, Usha Raman, Sumana Kasturi; Chapter 2 The Trans-Indian: Perspectives on Real vs. Virtual Identity in the Age of the Internet, Ananda Mitra; Chapter 3 From the German Periphery '" On Ethnographic Explorations of Indian Transnationalism Online, Urmila Goel; Chapter 4 'ThirdSpace' as Transnational Space, Emily Skop; Chapter 5 Online Connections, Online Yatras: The Role of the Internet in the Creation and Maintenance of Links between Advaita Vedanta Gurus in India and their Devotees in the Diaspora, Heinz Scheifinger; Chapter 6 Cyberspace, the Globalisation of Hinduism, and Protocols of Citizenship in the Digital Age, Vinay Lal; Part II Power; Chapter 7 (Re-)connecting with the Indian Diaspora from the 'Homeland': Diaspora Conferences and the Construction of Online Linkages with Non-Resident Indians, Mirian Santos Ribeiro de Oliveira; Chapter 8 Is Guruji Online? Internet Advice Forums and Transnational Encounters in a Vaishnav Sectarian Community, Emilia Bachrach; Chapter 9 Globalisation and the Transnationalism of 'Dalit' Identity: Probings from Modern India, Ashish Saxena; Chapter 10 ConclusionThe Diasporic Web: Reflexive Dialogue and Agentive Awareness, Johannes G. de Kruijf;
