Diasporic Communication: An Indicator of the Future of International Communication

It is astonishing to think that the micro-transactions between diasporic communities around the world (mostly transactions from countries such as Canada and the United States to family in a 'home country') account for more than $100 billion per year. Burman stresses that because most of these transactions are actually quite minute (usually less than $200 per transaction), they are frequent enough to represent a form of international communication. Using financial transactions as a form of international communication can help to shed some light on some topics most often discussed in Communication Studies such as the information society and post-industrial capitalism, governance of and policy regarding global media, transnational content and audiences, and diasporic community formation and support using new communications technologies (Burman, 7).

As we move into the 21st century, we also move into an age of globalization. This new chapter in human history was perhaps spurned by new information technology which has come about in the past 50 or 60 years or so. This technology has enabled humans all around the world to connect to eachother in ways that had previously never been possible. These newly established communication links have helped bring people from all areas of the world together to form imagined communities. These communities exists solely through the interaction of individuals or communities through communication networks and can exist between people who have never met, or have not been face to face in years. In the case of diasporic communities, these communication networks can actually be exchanges of money sent from on member of the family back to their family in their home country. A family will often invest in one of their children by paying for them to relocate to a wealthy, often Western country such as Canada or the US , in the hopes that they will be able to find a job and send money back home to the family. These monetary transactions, although not verbal or textual, can serve as an indication of how well the individual is doing in their new country and at their new job. These monetary flows into a country can actually account for a tremendous amount of that country's wealth. For example, in 2004 these influxes in money from those living abroad accounted for around $2 Billion or 14% of El Salvador's GDP. This statistic speaks volumes to the new ways in which globalization is affecting families throughout the world. It is no longer unusual for families to be physically split up but keep existing on an international scale.

In the last 2 decades or so, a new technology has enabled those living away from home a means of accessing media from their homeland. The proliferation of satellite technology has meant that an Italian living in Toronto can have access to Italian news through their satellite dish. This has enabled those ex-patriates to feel that much more connected to their home and family back in Italy. The rise of cell phones has also meant that those living abroad can contact their families back home much more cheaply, efficiently, and reliably. Technology has had the effect of essentially shrinking space. Parents might as well have sent their children to the neighboring town (as opposed to the other side of the world), considering how easy it is to stay in touch.

The other significant effect of transnationalism has been the formation of ethnic communities in the new country of habitation. For example, in Toronto one can see Indian communities, Italian communities, Chinese communities, Jamaica communities etc. These communities are formed based on the desire to maintain one's culture through continued practice of traditions and values. These cultural interactions in the ethnic communities in the foreign country, as well as the continued contact with those at home, ensure the survival of culture despite living in a country where that culture normally would not exist. These communities often create their own media in the forms of radio stations, television stations, music, and video, with the goal of encouraging the continuation of that culture away from its original location. New media and communication technologies have had a tremendous impact in maintaining the culture of these communities.

When one first begins to study globalization, the first reaction is that it will just end up mixing all cultures together, creating one homogenous culture. However we are learning that this is not actually the case. It is more often the case that culture's are spreading from their point of origin, to somewhere very far away and are not disintegrating in the process, but are oftentimes strengthened in communities far from home. Communication technology, including monetary transactions help to maintain links between families and cultures. Luckily, instead of seeing a degradation of culture around the world, it seems as though we will all just become more familiar with and aware of other cultures that we would never had had the chance to interact with had it not been for the globalized world in which we now live.

Burman, Jenny. "Migrant Remittances as Diasporic Communication", The Journal of International Communication. 2006, pg 7-18.