The Digitally Mediated ‘Homeland’ Mobilities of West African Diaspora Youth: Diversifying Grounded Engagements, Peer Networks and Leisure Practices

Abstract

Diaspora youth engage with their ‘homelands’ both through online interactions and in-person visits. Existing migration research predominantly analyses digital media as a means to maintain kinship from afar, construct diasporic identity online and support ‘crisis’ migratory journeys —and has mostly studied digital lives and mobilities separately. Drawing on two multi-sited projects with West African diaspora youth, we argue that changing media landscapes and youth's digital fluency are fostering novel digitally mediated grounded ‘homeland’ engagements. The digital functions as a mobilising infrastructure that drives movement to and shapes interactions in West Africa both due to increasing connectivity and the distinct social and moral norms in which the digital is embedded. Digital media also underpin youth-specific engagements with the ‘homeland’: youth use diverse platforms to invest in intra-generational relationships and pursue leisure. We outline an agenda for future research on digitally mediated diaspora-‘homeland’ relations and key stances for research on digital migration.