Chatroom Nation: an Eritrean Case Study of a Diaspora Paltalk Public
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Chatroom Nation: an Eritrean Case Study of a Diaspora PalTalk Public A dissertation presented to the faculty of the Scripps College of Communication of Ohio University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy Yonatan T. Tewelde December 2020 © 2020 Yonatan T. Tewelde. All Rights Reserved. This dissertation titled Chatroom Nation: an Eritrean Case Study of a Diaspora PalTalk Public by YONATAN T. TEWELDE has been approved for the School of Media Arts & Studies and the Scripps College of Communication by Steve Howard Professor of Media Arts and Studies Scott Titsworth Dean, Scripps College of Communication ii Abstract TEWELDE, YONATAN T., Ph.D., December 2020, Media Arts & Studies Chatroom Nation: an Eritrean Case Study of a Diaspora PalTalk Public Director of Dissertation: Steve Howard This dissertation analyzes the ways Eritrean migrants adapted PalTalk chatrooms as venues for political deliberation, activism, and peacebuilding. By relating to annihilated traditional and modern civic spheres in the country, I explore how diaspora Eritreans build dynamic communities of solidarity and engage in counter activities against their government. Primarily using in-depth interviews and archival analysis, I have documented some milestone achievements this online community was able to accomplish in the period between 2000 and 2016, identifying breaking the spiral of silence in the diaspora, mobilizing protests, and consolidating clear political opinions. I also examine the role of Eritrean PalTalk chatrooms in building peace and deterring violence in relation to the overarching question about the role of new media in building peace. By focusing on a popular PalTalk chatroom called Smer, I identify the promotion of non-violent struggle, peace education, and truth sharing as important communicative exercises that can serve as examples that new media can contribute positively for peace and national healing. I also underscore how a sense of enervation with war and violence has inclined many Eritreans to pursue a negative peace that aspires the end of militarized governance and forced conscription. iii Dedication To my wife Yoki and my sons, Kibri and Neud. iv Acknowledgments I would like to express my gratitude to those who gave me a great deal of support and assistance during this dissertation. First, I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to my advisor Dr. Steve Howard for his outstanding guidance in this project and for his continued support throughout my Ph.D. study. My sincere thanks goes to Dr. Wolfgang Suetzl for his insightful advice in building this study's theoretical framework. I would like to thank Dr. Devika Chawla for inspiring the ethnographic approach I have used and for her willingness to serve as a committee member during her Sabbatical. I want to thank Dr. Ghirmai Negash for his support and constructive feedback throughout the process. Moreover, I want to extend my sincere thanks to my primary interviewees (whom I am not naming here for confidentiality reasons) and the administrators of Smer and Teshamo PalTalk rooms for their generosity in sharing their time and knowledge. I also want to thank Victoria Bernal for her constructive feedback. v Table of Contents Page Abstract .............................................................................................................................. iii Dedication .......................................................................................................................... iv Acknowledgments............................................................................................................... v List of Acronyms ............................................................................................................. viii List of Tables ..................................................................................................................... ix List of Figures ..................................................................................................................... x Chapter 1: Situating PalTalk in Eritrean Mediascapes ....................................................... 1 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 1 PalTalk as a Social Technology and a Transnational Network .................................... 5 The Debut of PalTalk as an Eritrean Political Arena ................................................. 10 Rationalizing Research about Eritrean PalTalk .......................................................... 16 Chapter 2: Networks as Spaces of Belonging ................................................................... 20 Internet as a New-Age Social Space .......................................................................... 22 The Morphology of Global Networks ........................................................................ 28 The Age of Flows and Timeless Time ....................................................................... 35 A History of Online Communities and Chatrooms .................................................... 40 The Public Sphere: Concept and Criticism ................................................................ 49 Media and Public Sphere ............................................................................................ 52 Chapter 3: Mapping Eritrean Civil Spheres ...................................................................... 56 An African Outlook about the Public Sphere ............................................................. 56 The Demise of Traditional Baitos .............................................................................. 59 Civil Society and Emergent Signs of Authoritarianism in the Early 1990s ............... 62 The Collapse of Civic Spheres in Eritrea ................................................................... 66 Nascent Digital Diaspora ............................................................................................ 69 Eritrean Government’s Apparatuses of Control in the Diaspora................................ 72 Conclusion: Imagining Nations in the Age of New Media ........................................ 76 Chapter 4: Method ........................................................................................................... 78 Rendezvous in Isolation ............................................................................................. 78 Listening as a Research Tool ...................................................................................... 86 Knowledge Gathering Tools ...................................................................................... 88 vi Ethical Issues .............................................................................................................. 93 Chapter 5: PalTalk a Diaspora Space of Political Debate ................................................. 98 Relational Norms in PalTalk ...................................................................................... 99 Economic Structure of PalTalk Rooms .................................................................... 105 Communities of Solidarity (2000 -10) ..................................................................... 112 Defectors on Mic: PalTalk as a Space of Long-Distance Activism ......................... 117 Divergence in Opposition and Opinion (2011 – 2016) ........................................... 125 Pro-Government Activities on Eritrean PalTalk ...................................................... 129 From Cellphones to Megaphones: Protests Mobilized in Smer Room .................... 135 Conflict and Splits in Smer Room ............................................................................ 140 Summary .................................................................................................................. 149 Chapter 6: Promoting Nonviolence as a Pathway to Peace ............................................ 152 Contextual Underpinnings of Peace ......................................................................... 152 Rethinking Mass Militarization as Subjugation ....................................................... 159 The History of Mass Media in Conflicts and Peace ................................................. 168 The Role of Diaspora Media in Peace Building ....................................................... 172 Tezareb: Breaking Silence in Exile .......................................................................... 175 Debating Peace in PalTalk Rooms ........................................................................... 191 When Survivors Recount Terror .............................................................................. 198 Tezareb Sessions: Memorializing Violence and Oppression ................................... 202 Limitations of Tezareb ............................................................................................. 211 Summary .................................................................................................................. 212 Chapter 7: Conclusion..................................................................................................... 214 References ....................................................................................................................... 221 vii List of Acronyms ANC – African National Congress ARPANET - Advanced Research Projects Agency Network COIE- Commission of Enquiry on Eritrea ELF – Eritrean Liberation