Migrant Be/longing. Digital Connectedness in an Age of Solidarity

This chapter focuses on new forms of migrant belonging and its many articulations in digital media and culture. “Migrant belonging” refers to a way of being in the world that cuts across national borders, shaping new forms of diasporic affiliations and transnational intimacy. Thanks to digital connectivity, these connections have been heightened and accelerated, with different modalities of agency and emancipation taking place.

In particular, it is important to focus on the everyday aspects of these migrant belongings in order to unearth the transnationally connected, and locally situated, social worlds in which migrants live their lives. Different debates on belonging have emphasized the social, geographical, but also political, socio-semiotic, and affective aspects of belonging. This comes to light notably when discussing migrant literatures and in particular the technological implications of literature across social media platforms.

The chapter closes with a reading of the work of British-Somali poet Warsan Shire, especially her poem “Home,” which focuses on issues of immigration, the suffering of refugees, racism, and helplessness. The theme of home and belonging is central, bound to space but also to a sense of safety and of futurity for the refugees. The poem went viral on different social media spaces and become a manifesto for the plight of refugees, showing how the intersection of digital technologies and migration has enabled new forms of migrant belongings and expressions.