Understanding Latin American diasporic transnationalism and the media in the post-digital era: The interstices of invisibility

Abstract

Drawing on two-decade long interdisciplinary studies that seek to examine, compare, and contrast population flows, capital flows and media flows/counterflows, this essay examines findings from various research projects on Latin American diasporas and the media. Outcomes of multi-sited fieldwork surveying news media production, distribution, and consumption in the Americas, Europe, and Asia, indicate that these performances are influenced by diverse variables such as the stage of immigration processes, generational and new technologies gaps as well as social environments in contexts of origin and destiny, among others. The study of contemporary Latin American diasporas living transnational lives demands interdisciplinary approaches that help us examine the complexities of these heterogeneous groups that, paradoxically, have been homogenized by public discourse in countries of destiny, driven mainly by political and administrative precepts as well as by commercial and marketing campaigns.