Scott Neill
12/15/11
Professor Gable
Independent Study
Internet Ethnicity
I started my independent research project from a prompt in the form of a proposal given to me by Professor Gable. Within this prompt it raises the question to what effect are diasporic youths- separated from their country of origin, either for political or economic issues- able to establish transnational communities. Global media today and its relationship to cultural expression in the form of a website allows for a commoditization of culture. The boundaries set by a website situate a smaller diasporic community of common goals, beliefs and values within a larger society of Internet users. Within this setting there is an opportunity to discuss grass-roots nationbuilding amongst various users rooted in different geographical settings. To some extent, I was able to locate online communities, or at least evidence of community and nationbuilding from generic websites and forums. The following is how I went about my research and what I found.
Given a list of West African tribal names, I systematically went through it using search engines (Google and Bing) but came upon multiple deadlinks from websites written in French and Portuguese. Beginning from the top of the list again I followed a link for Edo-Nation.net that was a discussion group website. It was rather generic and plain in form. There was a javascript banner flashing at the top, with an African mask accompanying the title of the page, but rest of the page was generally devoid of images or information; only links to other websites, weather reports in Nigeria (oddly enough), a guestbook, and another deadlink to an “edo youth” website. The latest dates of the page that listed announcements were dated from 2 years ago. This was slightly discouraging but after scanning a list of Edoid websites listed at the bottom, I came upon two websites for specific Edoitic groups: the Ijaw and Itsekiri that seemed to be rather well updated. One page was for displaced Itsekiri within the United States. The other was located in Britain.
At this point I have to admit it was a bit of serendipity that after doing research onto the two groups I realized that their disaporic origins came from the same zone of conflict. I retrieved a basic background of each ethnic group using Wikipedia: The Ijaw are a number of loosely affiliated tribes (40) located within the Niger Delta region who were formerly organized into clusters of villages, or confederacies to protect against outside invaders. In the present day they have become increasingly nationalistic in a response to the environmental degradation brought on by the local exploitation natural resources, chiefly oil. The presence of oil companies in the Warri region, the largest metropolitan city in the Delta, has led to a clash between various ethnic groups, which changes my focus to the Itsekiri. The Itsekiri are less numerous but highly educated and overall more affluent. They lay claim to the Warri region referring it to their land as the Kingdom of Warri. Between the two groups it’s a struggle over rights of sovereignty to the land and control of resources.
Looking at the websites of the two groups, I was able to ascertain idiosyncratic elements but also shared features. On the Ugbajo Itsekiri website, it’s quite a flashy experience, literally. Before seeing the title page I was exposed to a short flash slide show: “The Itsekiri” -accompanied by a picture of a man and a woman dressed-to-the-nines in ceremonial outfits. “A minority ethnic group in Niger Delta area of Nigeria” -with a picture of a dilapidated village and a polluted river. And then a cartoon map shown with their region flashing and the words “With their monarchy dating back to the 15th century” (which seems to establish a bit of primacy in their favor). It was then followed by the words “One Language, One Culture, One People” next to an image of schoolchildren. Finally came a crest of two swords, a crown, and a wreath of leaves with the words Ugabajo Itsekiri USA, Inc. wrapped underneath it and the message “Presented by Itsekiri Sons and Daughters Living in America”. It was quite a magnanimous opening to a website that was professionally done by a webdesign company based in California. The links they had at the top were for Obituaries, Events and News etc. Yet the news was decidedly slanted and out of date, as well as very ethnocentric. What was of particular interest was a montage of three photos to the left, beginning with the same picture of a dilapidated village, rising to busy highway and city, to the top photo of a well- dressed Itsekiri woman. The semiotics of this were clear; that the Itsekiri had progressed from humble beginnings.
Compared with the Itsekiri, the Ijaw website was striking in its contrast. At the top there was too a banner with the loud letters “Ijaw Peoples Foundation of Great Britain and Ireland- Service Before Reward”. Images in the background of the banner were those of Great Britain juxtaposed with burning pipelines. To each side of the banner there was an image of a flag and a patch with a fish and boat surrounding the letters “IPA”. The message these sent was one of militancy, yet the Itsekiri seemed to spread somewhat of an opposite message, a tribute to their ethnic identity as a monolithic institution. Also there was a copy of the Kaima Declaration. This was a document that was issued by the Ijaw Youth Movement as a response to the loss of control of their homeland to oil companies, and demanded a suspension of operations in the Delta region as well as a retreat. In addition to this, there were links to News (referencing upcoming events), a facebook link, as well as a copy of their constitution. They too had hired a webdesign company based in East London to produce their webpage. Here the online community was relatively more active, where it had a membership area to join. So, I signed up, but it gave me few privileges in terms of what I could or could not do. The advantages of joining were negligible. Through some turn of events, the website temporarily went offline. I tried to call the president and secretary of the organization but both numbers were reportedly not in service.
Having come to the conclusion that the two of these websites were dead-ends as far as what I could make sense of a diasporic nation-building community; I managed to find two forums that were about Nigeria in general. They are called Nigerians in America and Nigerian Village Square. The last one’s name intrigued me as I had come across several articles that use the exact term of “(insert country here) Village”. One by Angel Adams Parham called “Diaspora, community and communication: Internet use in transnational Haiti” analyzes a forum called “Haiti Global Village” using what she calls public sphere theory. The forum, as an example, is a creation on the behalf of the Haitian community through Internet technology to create a public sphere. “Public sphere theory contributes to existing research on transnational community and identity building by highlighting the linkages between individual participants, community forums and offline organizations and institutions” (Parham 200). She concludes that such forums create a needed space for civic deliberation when it comes to diasporic identity. So, I decided I would join the Nigerians in America forum. I felt this would allow me to observe discourse and this “civic deliberation” in action. Under the section “New Member Introduction”, I identified myself as a student who goes to Mary Washington. What follows is my interaction with various members of the community:
Community member 1: So, what is your ethnicity?
Me: Well I was raised Episcopalian and I have a mix of Irish, English and Jewish ancestry. To be honest I don't really strongly identify with either of the three. Thats something I am working on...
Community member 2: Welcome ScotT, It dont matter You are Gods creation
Community member 3:too funny. Welcome.
This was just a small sampling of what occurred but I immediately found myself endeared to this community. Based on articles I have read by other authors including Brian Keith Axel (“The Context of Diaspora”) and Victoria Bernal (“Eritrea Online: Diaspora, Cyberspace and the Public Sphere”) it would seem it is hard to start an online community based out of conflict or violent separation of a home country. The language that is used is very welcoming, as transnational nation-building communities are indeed fragile, not tied together by a physical landscape. And it is just as easy to not participate in an online community. I was a bit baffled by how to answer the question of “what is your ethnicity” as I never been asked it before. Yet within an online community where everyone is anonymous by default, such questions do become relevant and the moment of one’s ethnicity, or diasporic subjectivity, is generated by enunciation and making one’s self heard.
For the scope of the project, where I wanted more questions answered, there was indeed not enough time. For example, Benedict Anderson (1983) talks about the phenomenon of those who read the newspaper, which sounds very much like the internet forum:
“It is performed in silent privacy, in the lair of the skull. Yet each communicant is well aware that the ceremony he performs is being replicated simultaneously by thousands (millions) of others of whose existence he is confident, yet of whose identity he has not the slightest notion. … What more vivid figure for the secular, historically clocked, imagined community can be envisioned?”
This stimulated the idea of to what extent are these imagined communities connected to physical landscapes. This would be something hard to measure, but I believe its possible. In conclusion, the websites I encountered were both more symbolic, operating as a figurehead, or promotional device for these diasporic communities. It is my belief, by looking at forums or Facebook pages that we can actually gauge the amount of activity taking place, and the extent to which community nationbuilding (or rebuilding) is being enacted.
Works Cited:
Amaize, Emma. Ijawland.com. Web. 16 Dec. 2011. <http://www.ijawland.com/>.
Axel, Brian Keith. "The Context of Diaspora." Cultural Anthropology 19.1 (2004): 26-60. Print.
Bernal, Victoria. "Eritrea On-line: Diaspora, Cyberspace, and the Public Sphere." American Ethnologist 32.4 (2005): 660-75. Print.
Doostdar, Alireza. ""The Vulgar Spirit of Blogging": On Language, Culture, and Power in Persian Weblogestan." American Anthropologist 106.4 (2004): 651-62. Print.
Emetulu, Kennedy. Nigerians In America. Web. 16 Dec. 2011. <http://www.nigeriansinamerica.com/>.
Nigerian Village Square. Web. 15 Dec. 2011. <http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/>.
Itsekiri US - Promoting Itsekiri Custom, Culture, and Heritage. Web. 16 Dec. 2011. <http://www.itsekiri.org/>.
Parham, Angel Adams. "Diaspora, Community and Communication: Internet Use in Transnational Haiti." Global Networks 4.2 (2004): 199-217. Print.