Internet Diaspora
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As someone who spent 11 years living in Ireland, I have learnt a bit about the Potato Famine and about the Irish diaspora in general, having had family members who were a part of the Irish diaspora in Australia in the 1970s and 80s. When the 2008 global financial crisis happened, a large number of young Irish people who were unable to find work at home, began to move abroad in search of work. This was just as I finished high school, and we were told that we were unlikely to gain employment without a degree unless you had family who could help you out and get you into a job, As such, several people who I graduated high school with have now moved abroad, myself included, either to work or to study.
The history of Irish Emigration is a long one. War and Religious persecution along with the Potato Famine and a bad economy would be considered the main reasons for the Irish to have to emigrate from their homeland. In the past, once these people left their homeland they never saw it again, and when they arrived in their new homelands, formed small communities so they could hold on to a small part of where they came from. In modern times, thanks be to the internet, those who are forced to emigrate are able to talk to their families back home, through social media such as Skype and Facebook and Instagram, migrants these days only have to wait for the right time of day because of time difference, and then they are able to talk to their families.
To summarise, diaspora doesn't mean the same thing that it did a hundred years ago. Thanks to the internet, separation is no longer permanent. The diaspora movement now helps to connect modern migrants to connect with one another at themed events i.e St Patrick's Day. and Facebook groups promoting Irish heritage within Australia.
References
Kuttainen, V. (2015). BA1002: Space: Networks, Narratives, and the making of place, week 7 notes[PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from https://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au
Ma Mung, E. (2005). ‘Diaspora, spatiality, identities’. In Comparative European research in migration, diversity and identities. Retrieved from https://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au
I would argue that the diapsora still means the same as it once did, to the current age. the difference being that it no longer seems to apply to first world countries like our own, due to a lack of ignition for one, however in more unstable countries, such as syria 'diapsora' (Mung, 2005) still occurs, and at a quickened rate. Religion is a strong factor for what can be thought of as a link between refugees forced to be displaced, through war instead of a lack of natural resources.
ReplyDeleteReference:
Mung, E. (2005). Diaspora, Spatiality, Identities. In E. Mung, Comparative European Research in Migration, Diversity and Identities (1st ed., pp. 33-46). Bilbao: University of Deusto.