Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
This book examines the durable ties immigrants maintain with the home country, focusing in particular on their transnational cultural activities. In light of the changing technologies, especially information and communication technologies (ICTs), which enable a faster, easier, and greater social and cultural engagement with the home country than before, the book argues that middle-class immigrants coming from the far corners of the globe such as Korean immigrants in the Washington-Baltimore region sustain more regular connections with the homeland through cultural, than economic or political, transnational activities. The ease, speed, and volume with which ICTs, especially the Internet and smartphones, enable cross-border communication and consumption of home country media and consumer goods today means that the transaction costs of participating with home country norms, tastes, and trends have been significantly reduced, creating a more effortless (and unconscious) engagement with the homeland. Though not as conspicuous and contentious as other forms of transnational participation, precisely for their overlooked and mundane nature, they may prove to be more lasting and also serve as a backbone for maintaining longer-lasting connections and identities with the home country.
Synopsis
Transnational Communities in the Smartphone Age: The Korean Community in the Nation's Capital examines the durable ties immigrants maintain with the home country and focuses in particular on their transnational cultural activities. In light of changing technologies, especially information and communication technologies (ICTs), which enable a faster, easier, and greater social and cultural engagement with the home country, this book argues that middle-class immigrants, such as Korean immigrants in the Washington-Baltimore region, sustain more regular connections with the homeland through cultural, rather than economic or political, transnational activities. Though not as conspicuous and contentious as other forms of transnational participation, cultural transnational activities may prove to be more lasting and also serve as a backbone for maintaining longer-lasting connections and identities with the home country.
Synopsis
This book examines Korean immigrants' transnational activities, in particular their consumption of transnational media, and the role of information and communication technologies (ICTs), especially the Internet and smartphones, on cross-border engagement and its impact on their sense of home, identity, and belonging.