Nationalism and Diaspora in Cyberspace: The case of the Kurdish diaspora on social media

Abstract

Kurds in the diaspora have attempted to achieve nationalist aspirations: to build, activate, define, and redefine their national identity in new social media spaces. Kurdish symbols, nationalistic discourses and interactions used in the social media are deployed to disseminate and define a specific identity for the Kurds, and thereby distinguish themselves as a stateless nation. In doing so, they have moved beyond the features of a dormant diaspora towards becoming an active stateless diaspora. They have exploited a variety of media –satellite TV channels, journals and internet resources, etc. – to represent their collective identity, and have endeavoured to move forward in their articulation of Kurdish national identity as a stateless nation. Using the lens of a theoretical approach to nationalism that is primarily ethno-symbolist, but also draws on some selected elements of modernism, this PhD dissertation examines the distinctive roles that social media play for the diasporic Kurds in attempting to articulate the concept of a distinct stateless nation and engage in a nationhood process. Analysing data through online ethnographic content analysis, the dissertation attempts to understand not only how social media have influenced the discourse of Kurdish nationalism in the diaspora, but also how the totality of the notion of Kurdayeti [Kurdish national identity] has been affected by the growth of Kurdish social media. It claims that the interactions and connections between nodes within Kurds have been accelerated by the rise of social media and ethnic identity discussions have become much more visible. However, the idea of a unified imagined Kurdish nation has been affected by the existing socio-political fragmentations among the Kurds and transformed into a participatory and pluralistic imagined community by embracing further democratic elements.