Digital communication in the making of cosmopolitan spaces by São Paulo’s immigrants

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article aims to examine the role of digital communication in the making of cosmopolitan spaces by immigrants in the city of São Paulo. Particularly, the uses of the digital social media Facebook by these individuals are analyzed, in order to reveal the specific mediations through the diverse uses of immigrants living in São Paulo of this platform. São Paulo’s migrants’ communities – established and new –, face uncertainty about their identity formation, as well as about the viability of social formation and multicultural discourses. Hence, we analyze how immigrants in São Paulo mobilize digitally to make cosmopolitan spaces in the city, from the development of local networks in support of migrants, to training into digital skills and the production of visibility within digital media. This study uses a multimethod approach, by investigating digital practices to build cosmopolitan spaces in São Paulo, and by examining the lives of individuals of different migrants’ communities in the city. This discussion aims to dialogue with the perspectives of ‘vernacular cosmopolitanism’ and ‘cosmopolitanism of liberation’ (Georgiou, M. 2013. Media and the city: cosmopolitanism and difference. Cambridge, MA: Polity), of valorization of cultural identities of migrants groups, as well as of dispositions from an ethical and political perspective to openness and recognition of the migrants within the local society.