#SOSVenezuela: A Diaspora-Driven Global Social Movement
Descripción
Ben Homer 5/14/2014 #SOSVenezuela: A DiasporaDriven Global Social Movement Introduction Diasporas those communities which share an attachment to a homeland which differs from their present country of residence, play an important role in state politics a role which has likely grown in recent decades as a result of Globalization. Members of diasporas frequently develop multiple identities (Castles, 2000) forging bonds with their adopted state while often maintaining strong connections with their country of origin (Vertovec, 2005). Social movements in the Arab Spring uprisings, in Ukraine, and Venezuela have all been supported to varying degrees by members of diasporas that by virtue of having multiple identities play a key role in framing international discussion about the political situation. (Eltantawi & Wiest 2011). The widespread adoption of social media and its integration into social movements, particularly during political protests has generated significant attention but the specific role of expatriate communities and their use of media and technology to communicate and play a role in political change of their home state has not been widely studied. Through political activism outside of their home state members of these communities have generated international attention for national causes, often reaching audiences that those within their home state otherwise would not. A wealth of research has been done into the role of social media in influencing political change (Aday, Lynch, Farrell & Sides 2010, Shirky, 2011). Diasporas have been shown to play a role in information flows from countries undergoing social movements to the outside world as witnessed in Tunisia (Graziano, 2012) Libya (Harb 2011), Egypt (Lynch, 2011) and Syria (Lynch, Freelon & Aday 2014), but few have specifically focused on expatriate communities, their role as curators and disseminators information, and their influence on these social movements directly and through media. Because diasporas are frequently integrated into multiple nationalities their influence likely plays a very significant role in international dialogue about events occurring in their home countries which has so far been underaddressed by academia. Additionally, because of the political sensitivity of internal state 1
conflicts, language barriers, cultural differences, and governmental restrictions on information, the ground reality in places undergoing social movements is often opaque. As a result, diasporas, having broad social networks inside of and outside of their state of origin are in a unique position to receive and contextualize news, and likely play a critical and underappreciated role in framing the external narrative about what is taking place when political change occurs. Recently, a large Venezuelan diaspora community in the United States has sought to generate attention to political unrest in Venezuela. Approximately 10,000 Venezuelans currently reside in New York City according to the most recent census. In the wake of recent political strife in Venezuela this community has become increasingly vocal staging gatherings in New York and around the world to show solidarity and raise awareness for the political situation in Venezuela. This paper examines the role of the Venezuelan community in the United States and worldwide in generating attention for the current political situation in Venezuela. Broadly this political situation has multiple actors and may be described in many different ways. Here I focus on the role of the largely diasporadriven international social movement which has rallied around the hashtag #SOSVenezuela in a shared form of digital organization. More specifically I aim to understand the role of use of social media and new technologies by Venezuelans in sending and receiving information about events taking place inside of and outside of Venezuela, as well as attempts to frame the international discussion and sway public opinion outside of and inside Venezuela. By focusing specifically at the case of a very active Venezuelan diaspora population around the world, the #SOSVenezuela case provides an opportunity to explore firsthand the methods used and results achieved when a diaspora mobilizes to generate external support for political change in a country. The data presented here aims to deepen the existing understanding of the goals and motivations diaspora communities have when they mobilize to generate attention for an issue, as well as how social media tools are used to achieve these ends. Research Design Social media has become a widely used tool in protest movements over the past several years. As a result of their unique role state politics, members of diaspora communities
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are likely to have outsize influence in framing the international discussion about issues of political concern in their country of origin. Rapid adoption of social media and other new communication tools is likely to have enhanced the ability of diasporas to draw attention to issues of collective interest. These tools when used to organize and mobilize large numbers of individuals based on a shared common history may enable them to influence outside actors, and potentially achieve specific political goals in their country of origin. It is likely that use of social media both enables diaspora communities to gain insight into daily events in their country of origin as well as to broadcast news of events, and reframe the narrative for an international audience. Use of social media is likely to be a particularly effective tool for members of diasporas in receiving, curating and distributing information about political protests because domestic coverage of politically sensitive events in their country of origin may be subject to censorship or because of language barriers limiting attention from an external audience. Because members of diasporas have elements of shared identity with their country of origin and present state of residence, they are in a key position to influence international discussion and action in relation to events in their country of origin, especially if that community plays a significant role in the politics of a powerful or influential country such as the United States. The Arab Spring uprisings, Occupy Wall Street in the United States, Euromaidan in Ukraine and other social movements that have occurred in the past decade have used social media to generate attention and mobilize popular movements for political ends. While causality between use of social media and political change has been difficult to prove, it is, as Joshua Tucker of the NYU Social Media and Political Participation lab put it “becoming increasingly difficult to imagine protests that do not involve social media." (personal communication 2014) The use of social media has become ubiquitous in social movements. A better understanding of the ways in which these tools are being used by diaspora communities is likely to provide insights into the role of these important but understudied actors in international politics. Methodology In order to identify the motivations of Venezuelan protesters in New York and better understand diaspora use of social media, and its results this study adopts a mixed methods research approach involving surveys of individuals participating in activism around the world,
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semistructured interviews of members of the Venezuelan diaspora, as well as firsthand observations drawn from inperson gatherings in New York City. This research has two primary aims. First, to better understand the goals and motivations of diaspora communities in organizing to generate external support for issues of mutual interest in their country of origin. And second, to understand the role of social media tools and new media technology in achieving these ends. Semistructured interviews have been undertaken with activist members of the Venezuelan community in an effort to understand their motivations, goals, and how social media tools play into achieving these goals. The survey was distributed via social media to those supporting the Venezuelan protest movement online in order to reach a wider range of activists and members of the diaspora community and generate further insights with a larger sample size. Participants & Data Gathering Tools Diffusion of leadership in modern social movements has been facilitated by use of new technology and social media. This trend has characterised the most recent Venezuelan protest movement making it difficult to identify specific individuals in positions of leadership. This presents a major challenge to research when it comes to identifying specific actors in the Venezuelan case as well as more broadly in understanding all the parties and interests involved in social movements which have taken place during the digital age. Because social media provides a degree of anonymity, online activism likely has a lower barrier to entry for activists than in person protests. As a result, it is difficult to identify key influencers to interview directly, as well as to gain an understanding of the varied interests involved in these protests. It may also be possible for an online activist to have a higher influence through use of social media than through offline activism, and to do so without publicly identifying as a leader. It should be noted that this anonymity may also be used by various actors for nefarious purposes, or for an online form of counterrevolution without identifying one’s interests or backers. In order to gain the broadest possible insights into the motives, goals and influence of the Venezuelan diaspora in the current political conflict in Venezuela, and into the role of diasporas in national social movements more broadly this research focuses on reaching two primary groups. First, those who are members of social media groups which are affiliated with the #SOSVenezuela hashtag such as the Facebook group sosVenezuela2014 which has
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more than 200,000 members, and smaller regional Facebook groups such as sosvenezuelanyc. Efforts were made to engage members of these groups in an online questionnaire to understand who they are, their interests, and the methods they use to pursue these interests. Second, through semistructured interviews with specific individuals likely to have outsize influence or knowledge of the social movement, an attempt is made to understand some of the more indepth nationalidentity driven motivations of leaders of these online groups, prominent VenezuelanAmerican activists, and others with significant influence either as a result of social media presence or prior celebrity. Ethics Because this research deals with a highly politicized issue, namely mass mobilization in opposition to the standing government of a state, and because it deals with online activity, there are a number of critical ethical issues to consider. First, in regards to bias, it is important to note that it is likely that the majority of those members of the Venezuelan diaspora who have engaged in political activism related to Venezuela may have strong motivations for hostility toward, the present government, because the policies of the present government may have played a role in their departure from the country. While there are supporters of the current government in Venezuela in the diaspora community and those who actively oppose to the government while currently residing in Venezuela, these individuals are likely to be fewer in number which will likely be reflected in survey responses. Because the majority of research participants are members of the diaspora it is important to attempt to identify their motivations and interests to ensure data is not excessively influenced by any specific interest group. The role of online data collection is another factor that is susceptible to outside influence, as online anonymity, and the distribution of the survey through social media may increase the likelihood that specific interests attempt to game responses to present their viewpoint as the predominant one. Finally, confidentiality has been critical to ensure that participants feel comfortable honestly discussing the sensitive political topics. Although diaspora community members are likely to be far more vocal than those currently living in their country of origin, may research subjects have family and / or friends still living in this country who could possibly be endangered as a result of political statements made publicly by those they know. Additionally,
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it is possible that activism could play a role in preventing them from being able to return to Venezuela, so it has been important to offer complete confidentiality and provide anonymity to those who request it. Procedure Semistructured interviews begin with basic demographic and personal information in order to better understand the backgrounds of who those members of the Venezuelan diaspora who have taken on positions of leadership in the current social movement in support of Venezuela. It then proceeds with questions to delve deeper into their motivations and interests in political activism as well as the tools they use to achieve these ends. The questionnaire follows a similar trajectory and question flow as the semistructured interview, but with a stronger focus on demographics as it is intended to reach a broad audience ranging from those who are heavily involved in activism online and in person, to those who may simply have been prompted to become a member of a Facebook group in support of the #SOSVenezuela movement at the suggestion of a friend. It utilizes primarily multiple choice questions of which respondents can select more than one response. Because the survey is targeted at a broad range of individuals who may simply be a member of a social network group and not actively engaged in the #SOSVenezuela movement it is intended to take under ten minutes to complete. Data Analysis: This research seeks to better understand the demographics, goals and motivations of individuals involved in activism related to the current political situation in Venezuela. These individuals include members of international diaspora communities (those communities which share an attachment to a homeland which differs from their present country of residence,) as well a smaller number of current Venezuelan residents and nonVenezuelans interested in the current Venezuelan political situation. In order to reach this population, a survey was distributed via the largest Facebook page ( https://www.facebook.com/sosVenezuela2014 ) focused on the current social movement in Venezuela Analysis of data from this survey provides insight into demographics, stated goals, and desired outcomes of a significant group who are involved in shaping public opinion related to current political situation in Venezuela. As of Sunday April 26 2014 when 6
the survey was closed this group had 205,652 likes. 256 surveys were completed. 6 partial surveys were recorded but data from these not used. This sample size is significant to provide an 89% confidence level with a margin of error of 5%. For added depth, semistructured interviews with activist members of the Venezuelan community provide additional insight into motivations and goals of those involved in the social movement around the current Venezuelan political situation as well as how social media tools are used to achieve these goals. Interviews with academics and members of the media familiar with the politics of the country provide further historical and political context. Findings Survey respondents were located around the world and extremely highly educated. The highest number of respondents, 44% were located in the United States, but there were also significant numbers in Europe, and South America, including 24 from Venezuela itself. Table 1: Locations of Respondents (by region):
Because the research aims to better understand individual notions of identity and nationality, many questions including those about location were left openended. This allowed for increased selfexpression but also presented some challenges in standardizing locations. For clarity, the data is normalized by region above. A word cloud provides greater granularity in locations of respondents (below). 7
Figure 1: SelfReported Locations of Respondents:
Respondents are extremely highly educated. This is perhaps not surprising considering that many respondents are first or second generation Venezuelans who had the economic resources to emigrate from Venezuela. Nevertheless the extent of their education is striking. More than 90% attended at least some college and 40% have a masters degree or above. Table 2: SelfReported Education Level
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Education level is reflected in respondent careers, with many engineers, scientists, technology workers and doctors. As highly educated members of the countries in which they now reside they it is likely that they have significant influence in their new country, particularly related to Venezuela. Though difficult to measure directly this influence may be used to affect change through digital and in person activism as well as through more subtle influence as respected members of their current communities. Figure 2: Selfreported Occupation
When it comes to reasons for activism, those involved tend to share a desire for a more democratic Venezuela, but also expressed multiple reasons for their involvement beyond this. The three most common reasons provided for involvement were broadly “desire to change life in Venezuela”, concerns over a “backslide of democracy toward dictatorship” and “desire to change political leadership” in the country. Haydee Izagiurre, the creator of the largest SOS Venezuela Facebook page described her goals this way: There's nothing that I would want more than to be able to go back to Venezuela and have the same advancement opportunities as I have in the US, and if that 9
happened I would go back, but it's not possible. Everyone that's abroad we're outside of Venezuela because we had to leave in order to advance economically, politically, socially...and that’s why everyone is so involved is because maybe it opens a door for us to go back and that’s a feeling that resonates across Venezuelans abroad. After the democracyfocused goals above, the next most cited reason for activism was “to generate support out of Venezuela”, indicating that respondents recognize the importance of affecting outside support, and their potentially influential role in generating this outside support. Table 3: What prompted you to get involved in activism related to the protests in Venezuela? (Pick no more than three main reasons)
Discussion Those involved in the social movement related to the current political situation in Venezuela are highly educated with highly skilled jobs. This supports the hypothesis that they are likely highly influential members of the international community. It suggests that they have multiple motivations and goals for their participation in this social movement, and that they are directly seeking to influence international public opinion through social media activism and in person demonstrations. Though the social movement is global and decentralized, there is a high degree of coordination and thought that goes into media strategies undertaken by participants. In speaking with many of those involved, it becomes clear that their discourse takes place with a highly nuanced understanding of media, the importance of its use in generating attention to their cause, and the role that the international and domestic Venezuelan media has played in shaping international understanding of the political turmoil that is taking place. In part this is due to the nature of the opposition, the current Venezuelan social movement has been driven 10
to a large extent by the wealthy elite. But it is also a function of the media makeup in Venezuela, a country in which domestic media is extremely polarized and where Twitter has become widely used for direct unfiltered political speech by both progovernment and opposition leaders. In this context, the government, the opposition and other influencers have used media to participate in a highly democratic and complex discourse, and internet media has been a critical component of this. "Twitter is very important in Venezuelan politics" says Felippe Ramos a Brazilian sociologist who is currently doing research in Caracas. Venezuela had the 4th highest penetration of Twitter users in the world according to a November 2013 study by PeerReach. According to Ramos, media was one of the key actors responsible for a 2002 attempted coup against the former president, but, he adds “in 2002 the internet was not as big as it is now.” Following the unsuccessful coup, Chavez took several steps to crack down on domestic media outlets. In the absence of free domestic media, the internet took on a growing political role, one which Chavez was eventually forced to acknowledge. Despite initially denouncing Twitter as a "tool of terror" in February 2010, Chavez changed tactics only a few months later creating a Twitter account in April that quickly grew to be the most popular in the country with more than four million followers. Rather than banning Twitter, Chavez decided to join it. In so doing, he acknowledged its usefulness "a weapon that also needs to be used by the revolution." (Telegraph 2010) As a result he took part in shaping the narrative through what had arguably become the most important media platform in use in the country. Wellorchestrated and large scale social media campaigns have also been successful at generating significant international attention to Venezuela around such issues as the Oscars. By targeting celebrities on Twitter in the week leading up to the Academy Awards, nominated actors were bombarded on Twitter by thousands of Venezuelans, and successfully drew support from Jared Leto in his acceptance speech for Best Supporting Actor. In Venezuela, the broadcast was not shown for the first time in decades, and Venezuelan minister of Communication and Information Delcy Rodriguez specifically denounced the campaign, tweeting "Rightwing extremists are lobbying in Hollywood, looking for pronouncements against Venezuela at the Oscars!" (de la Fuente 2014) In speaking with Venezuelans in the U.S., the example of the #OscarsForVenezuela campaign is repeatedly discussed as an example of the power of the global Venezuelan community to rally support through a hashtag. 11
Though some clear leaders have emerged, most of those participating in online activism and in person protests have few if any personal political ambitions. “It’s not something I had planned” said Natalie Chacin, a graduate student in digital marketing at NYU who got involved in online activism in February 2014 soon after the student protests began. Chacin moved to the U.S. from Venezuela when she was 14, and became involved in the movement by primarily through social media as she followed events primarily through firsthand accounts from people who were in the streets. “As I collected information I would retweet but translate in English, not everyone understands Spanish. I thought, I live in the States, I speak English, so that’s been my focus,” said Chacin. But she also expressed the need to balance between work and activism. “I'll continue to do it as a venezuelan, I have no interest in being part of something bigger, [as opposed to education and career] it's not my priority...but everything makes a difference in our lives so we can't be indifferent to this type of situation.” (personal communication 2014) She views her role as educating, trying to generate outside awareness of the situation, particularly in regards to human rights violations as much as she can. Conclusion This research supports the assertion that members of the Venezuelan diaspora are welleducated, likely influential members of the elite of their adopted nations, with a deep understanding of the role played by media and the potential impact of their influence. It provides insight into motivations this community as well shared values which translate into political goals. Finally, it shows how social media and new technology is being used by the Venezuelan diaspora community for social mobilization and to achieve political ends. Though this study focuses on a relatively small sample of Venezuelan members of the SOSVenezuela2014 Facebook group, and interviews with Venezuelan Americans seeking to generate attention to the current political situation in Venezuela, the emphasis on specific motives and shared political goals is likely indicative of the aims of the larger global Venezuelan diaspora community. Through a deeper understanding of information flows between citizens currently residing in Venezuela, the approximately one million members of the global Venezuelan diaspora and the various communities in which these expat Venezuelans now reside it may also be possible to gain wider insight into patterns of modern
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diaspora communication flows within the global political system beyond the Venezuelan diaspora alone. As a highly educated population, many of whom hold prestigious jobs in their new nations of residence, members of the Venezuelan diaspora are likely to be affluent and highly influential in their local communities. This very likely translates into political power, especially in countries where they form a substantial national bloc. In the United States, while difficult to show direct causation it seems plausible that this influence has played a major role in generating support for from Hollywood as in the #OscarsforVenezuela campaign, as well as on Capitol Hill, where the Venezuelan lobby, particularly strong in South Florida, has drawn calls for economic sanctions against the Venezuelan government from Senator Marco Rubio and Congresswoman Ileana RosLehtinen, both of whom represent the large
VenezuelanAmerican constituency in Florida. New media technologies and social media are used by diasporas to facilitate international organization and communication. The availability and widespread adoption of these technologies is a new development. In discussions with Venezuelans many of the technologies frequently referenced (Twitter, Zello, WhatsApp) are less than a decade old, and those that are slightly older (Facebook, SMS) are now reaching later adopters of technology. As the Venezuela case demonstrates, use of this technology makes it possible today for diaspora communities to play a role in international politics that was far more difficult to achieve in the past, as supranational actors. In turn this phenomena will affect interactions between states and citizens, and is likely to erode traditional notions of state sovereignty. Because of this, further study of diaspora communities in the politics of their country of origin and their adopted states should be critical both to states and to individual citizens seeking to understand the role of political change in the 21st century. References: Aday, Sean, Henry Farrell, Marc Lynch and John Sides. 2010. “Blogs and Bullets: New media in contentious politics.” Peaceworks 65. Retrieved Feb 23 2014 ( http://www.usip.org/files/resources/pw65.pdf ) Castles, Stephen. 2000. Ethnicity and Globalization. London: Sage Publications. de La Fuente, Anna Marie. 2014. “Venezuela Politics Take on Oscars.” Variety. Retrieved May 12 2014. 13
(http://variety.com/2014/film/awards/venezuelaoptsoutofairingoscars1201124827/) Eltantawi, Nahed and Julie B. Wiest. 2011 “Social Media in the Egyptian Revolution: Reconsidering Resource Mobilization Theory” International Journal of Communication 5: 12071224 Graziano, Teresa. 2012. “The Tunisian diaspora: Between ‘digital riots’ and Web Activism.” Social Science Information 51(4): 534550 Harb, Zahera. 2011. “Arab Revolutions and the Social Media Effect” M/C Journal 14(2) Lynch, Marc, Deen Freelon and Sean Aday. 2014. “Blogs and Bullets III: Syria’s Socially Mediated Civil War.” Peaceworks 91. Retrieved Feb 24 2014 (http://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/PW91Syrias%20Socially%20Mediated%20Civil %20War.pdf) Vertovec, Steven. 2005. “The political importance of diasporas” Migration Policy Institute. Retrieved February 23 2014 ( http://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/politicalimportancediasporas ). Maamari, Bassem E. and Hala El Zein. 2013. “The Impact on Social Media on the Political Interests of the Youth in Lebanon at the Wake of the Arab Spring.” Social Science Computer Review. Published online 27 November 2013. Shirky, Clay. 2011. “The Political Power of Social Media Technology, the Public Sphere, and Political Change”. Foreign Affairs 90(28) Telegraph. 2014. “Hugo Chavez signs up team of 200 to help manage his Twitter account.” Retrieved May 12 2014. ( http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/venezuela/7702598/Hugo Chavezsignsupteamof200tohelpmanagehisTwitteraccount.html )
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