Doctoral Dissertation Research: Social Media and the Transnational Mobilization of Social Movements

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This dissertation examines whether host country immigration policies shape the discourses and organizational alliances of worldwide advocacy groups. The project analyses the case of specific diaspora in Western Europe and the United States. Drawing on internet documents, website hyperlinks and social media affiliations, it uses cross-national comparison to examine: (1) the effects of host country immigration policies on the discourses and network structure of diaspora advocacy organizations; (2) the social media affiliations with these discourses among the host country diaspora population; and (3) the ethnic identities and participation of diaspora activists in these host countries. This study analyzes over four thousand active websites associated with diasporic advocacy in two dozen countries. Comparative analysis examines how host country immigration policies shape the prevalence of these different discourses (e.g. ethnic autonomy and separatism), the affiliation rates among the host country population and the network structure of hyperlinks among websites that indicate alliances and divides among these advocacy groups. Finally, we examine whether these organizational patterns are linked to rates of violence by and against diaspora in these countries. This research has implications for theoretical development and use by stakeholders relative to similar cases.