Cartography of the Basque Diaspora Online: Preserving Migrants’ Digital Culture

Pedro J. Oiarzabal

Introduction diaspora, structured around dozens and !is paper aims at presenting an over- dozens of associations. !ese diaspora view of some of the results of my work associations self-defined as Basque, ma- at the intersection between migration terialized with strong group self-aware- and diaspora studies and Internet and ness, sustained over a considerable Web studies. My research addresses the period of time. Diasporas such as those potential impact of information and of the Basque are composed of emi- communication technologies (ICTs) grants, who shared a collective identity on Basque culture and identity mainte- in their homeland, and who have been nance in the diaspora (see Oiarzabal and forced by structural socio-economic or Oiarzabal, 2005; Oiarzabal, 2009). It political conditions or have chosen to deals with the digital culture created by leave their land of origin to settle in migrants and their institutions and the other countries. !ere, migrants and need for collecting and preserving it. their descendants collectively maintain Here, I focus on the Basque diaspora and develop cultural, religious, and case and its expansion into cyberspace political expressions of their identity, by exploring its institutional evolu- and consequently they form a collec- tion on the Web, while presenting two tive identity distinct from that of their Basque diaspora digital archives as good host societies’ dominant culture. !ey examples of the utilization of new tech- constitute institutions and transnational nologies to preserve and disseminate the networks that maintain explicit and im- history of immigrants. By focusing on plicit personal and institutional ties of a the Basque diaspora, I attempt to draw cultural, social, economic, political, and attention to the implications that ICTs business nature with the homeland and have on international migrant diasporas other countries of Basque presence.1 such as of the Basque (see Alonso and As of March 2009, the Basque di- Oiarzabal, eds. 2010). aspora had instituted 211 social, cul- When I refer to the Basque diaspora, tural, educational, political, and business I am referring to the institutionalized associations throughout twenty-four P EDRO J. OIARZABAL 23 countries, of which 135 (or nearly 64%) Research Projects had a presence in cyberspace in twenty My initial research analyzed the forma- countries (or over 83% of the total) in tion of a new online landscape created the continents of Asia, America, Europe, by Basque diaspora institutional web- and Oceania. sites, which I defined as the Basque diaspora webscape (Oiarzabal, 2006). Methods Used A total of 141 people and ninety-eight At the beginning of my research I was Basque diaspora associations from confronted with the issue of identifying twenty countries participated in the re- Basque institutional websites as there search. !is included the participation was not a complete database. I consoli- of 66% (fifty-eight) of the total Basque dated partial databases, including the diaspora webmasters from eleven coun- Basque government’s registry of institu- tries in a Web-based survey. I also ap- tions abroad,2 while using web search plied a discursive and rhetorical analysis engines in order to identify the websites. to ninety websites from sixteen coun- I ended up creating my own database, tries as of July-August 2005 as well as which today is a public website called hyperlink network analyses of nearly http://euskaldiaspora.com, which has 2,000 links (see also Oiarzabal, 2010 become a useful tool to access diaspora and Forthcoming A). sites as well as an experiment on hyper- I complemented the initial research textuality. by studying new online platforms that From a methodological point of view, had been created since August 2005 to the Internet was not only an object of re- June 2007 and once again up to March search but also a research tool. I was also 2009. Due to the ephemeral nature of confronted with the intrinsic character- the Web the goal of this longitudinal istics of the Web such as its changing study was to track changes of the pres- nature as well as with the characteristics ence of the Basque institutional diaspora of the Web text when analyzing its con- on the Web over time in order to study tent (for example, its hypertextuality; its online evolution, its characteristics, multi-medianess—that is, combination the usage of different digital platforms of written word, graphics, and audio- and their potential impact on maintain- visual forms—its potential global reach, ing Basque identity abroad. Some of the and its ubiquity). For the past few years I questions addressed in this study were: conducted quantitative, qualitative, and What difference do new online applica- comparative research on both the online tions such as social network sites (e.g., and offline dimensions of the Basque MySpace, Facebook), weblogs (e.g., institutional diaspora as the Basque di- Blogger), or podcasting (e.g., YouTube) aspora, I argued, is an imagined com- make for diaspora associations? Are these munity projected into cyberspace—a associations truly facilitating the crea- constructed and shared electronic social tion of online communities of “friends” and cultural space. In other words, the based primordially on a common eth- diaspora online dimension is a projec- nicity or country of origin? (Oiarzabal, tion of the physical world diaspora. 2010b). 24 AEMI JOURNAL 2011 Finally, in 2010 I carried out a study By November 1997, there were al- on the users of seventy-five Basque in- ready sixty-one Basque diaspora in- stitutional diaspora groups on Facebook stitutions registered with the Basque (Oiarzabal, Forthcoming B). !ree government, but there was only one di- hundred and thirty-three individuals aspora association online—the political from thirteen countries participated in site from Caracas, Venezuelan Associa- the research. !e goals of the research tion of Friends of the Basque Country were to study Basque migrants and their (AVAEH in its Spanish acronym)— descendants’ reasons for using Social which was created in 1996.4 Following Network Sites (SNSs) and for joining the Basque-Venezuelan association, the those groups as well as to find out the earliest pioneering Basque diaspora or- potential effect on their “offline” lives in ganizations to claim a Basque corner terms of identity maintenance, commu- on the Web were the political associa- nity formation, migrant associationism, tion Basque Diaspora Association, from communication exchange, and infor- Santa Rosa, Argentina; the educational mation and knowledge transfer. In ad- organization based in Buenos Aires Juan dition, the study aimed at knowing who de Garay Basque Argentinean Founda- the users were as well as at understand- tion; and the Basque club from Seattle, ing their role and degree of involvement Washington, United States (U.S.), all of on the analyzed social network groups. which established their respective web- sites in 1997.5 !e Seattle club became the first Basque diaspora migrant club Basque Institutional Diaspora On- ever to construct an online presence. line History Seattle was soon followed by other Before the widespread use of the Inter- clubs in Argentina (La Plata), Venezuela net, the electronic mail, and the Web, (Caracas) and the U.S. (Utah), including Basques began slowly to “colonize” cy- the North American Basque Organiza- berspace, depicted by technologists tions (NABO) in 1998. NABO became and media critics as the “last frontier.” the first Basque diaspora migrant fed- In fact, the first solid attempts to do so eration to organize in cyberspace. Its by Basques, individually or collectively, Argentinean counterpart, the Federa- took place in the diaspora. By 1994, tion of Basque Argentinean Entities did the Internet became generally available not establish an online presence until to the public, and in that same year the November 2005. In 1999, the Basque first Basque website, http://www.buber. Museum and Cultural Center of Boise, net, was created in the diaspora by Blas Idaho, the Reno Basque Club Zazpiak Uberuaga. In the homeland, the Basque Bat, Nevada, both in the U.S., and the government established its first web- Calgary Euskal Etxea from Canada also site in October 1996. Prior to this, the established their own websites.6 Basque presence on the Internet was re- Nearly 90% of the institutional web- lated to two mailing lists: Basque-L (De- sites that comprise the Basque digital di- cember 1993) and soc.culture.basque aspora have been established in the new (July 1996).3 millennium. As of December 2005, the P EDRO J. OIARZABAL 25 Basque diaspora had engendered 189 on the impact of ICTs on Basque mi- associations throughout twenty-two grants and their descendants’ identity. countries.7 More than half of those as- In general terms, the Basque diaspora sociations (ninety-eight or nearly 52%) is utilizing the Web as a twenty-four-hour were online in sixteen countries (or easy to use and inexpensive platform to nearly 73%). By June 2007, the diaspora communicate, interact, maintain iden- increased by eight new associations and tity, create and recreate social ties and two new countries—China and Cuba. networks to both their homelands and At that time, 123 diaspora associations co-diaspora communities regardless of or over 62% had a presence on the Inter- geographical distance and time zones net in nineteen countries (or nearly 80% due to the low cost, effectiveness, and of the total). Nearly two years later, as of speed of the Internet. Basque diaspora March 2009, the diaspora had formed websites are platforms for communica- 211 associations throughout twenty- tion, social interaction, and representa- four countries, of which 135 (or nearly tion. 64%) had a presence in cyberspace in !e majority of the Basque diaspora twenty countries (or over 83% of the webmasters throughout the world argue total).8 At the same time, some diaspora that the Internet has the potential to associations have multiplied their online maintain Basque identity abroad (Oi- presence by combining different online arzabal, 2006). Similar to the role of of- platforms (forums, websites, and social fline communities, the Internet has the network sites). Consequently, by March potential to inform, and educate people 2009 the institutional or associative di- and communities in real time, in a con- aspora worldwide has organized itself stant and current manner. It is under- in 157 online platforms, compared to stood as a platform for obtaining and just a few years prior when the number providing information, mainly about the of sites could be counted on one hand. Basque Country and its culture, but also !is trend demonstrates a powerful po- about its political reality. !e webmas- tential for Basque diaspora expression ters acknowledge the capacity of the In- and representation online. ternet and the Web to reach beyond the immediate frontiers of their local com- Maintaining Identity munities, and consequently, expanding As seen there has been a significant evo- their communities and institutions to lution of the Basque institutional di- limits unknown prior to the Internet. In aspora presence online over the years, in this regard, the Internet opens the pos- both quantitative and qualitative terms. sibility for community creation by em- Why does the Basque diaspora use new powering diaspora consciousness. !at technologies such as the Internet? What is to say, the majority of the webmas- difference do they make? And what im- ters believe that the Internet also has the pact does the Internet have on strength- potential to help maintain a collective ening and maintaining Basque identity identity, while reconnecting individuals and culture in the diaspora? Due to with their identity and with a larger glo- space constraints, I will only touch bases bal Basque community—homeland and 26 AEMI JOURNAL 2011 diaspora. In sum, they believe that the such as the Internet. Internet has the potential to maintain Another extremely good example is Basque identity in terms of information, the bottom-up approach lead by the interaction, and communication. Ontario Basque Club in Oregon. Simi- lar to the previous examples, the On- Basque Diaspora Digital Archives tario Basque Club’s “Sustraiak” (Roots) For the past three decades, collabora- Project also aims at collecting and dig- tive efforts between Basque diaspora itally preserving the stories of the local community-based associations and aca- migrant generation. !ere are many rel- demic institutions, and the homeland evant digital historical archives regard- government have been made in order to ing migration found across the globe.10 promote and disseminate the study of For example, in the United Kingdom, the migrant generation by utilizing new we have the Irish Oral History Archive, digital technologies. !e Internet as a and in the U.S., the Japanese American global collaborative and creative collec- Legacy Project, established in 1997 to tive platform is by nature about sharing collect the stories of those Japanese and knowledge regardless of time and space. Japanese Americans incarcerated during As an example of this, I would like to WWII or the website Immigrant Jour- briefly refer to two digital archives on neys, which is dedicated to collect stories Basque migrants and their descendants of immigrants into the U.S.11 All these in the U.S. cases and many other existing projects A few years back, the Basque govern- are good examples of how to utilize new ment provided start-up grants to the technologies to store, preserve and dis- community-based groups, the Basque seminate migration history. Club of Reno, Nevada and the Basque Museum and Cultural Center of Boise, Conclusions and Open Questions Idaho to digitize existing recordings as Since the early 1990s, the Basque in- well as to initiate new oral history in- stitutional diaspora has progressively terviews with local Basque migrants as established firm ground in cyberspace a way to preserve their memory for fu- and has consolidated its efforts to con- ture generations. !e resulting work was stantly renew its presence according the “Oroitzapenak” (Memories) Project. to continuous change and social and Nearly three hundred interviews were technological innovation. !roughout carried out, in a short period of time, the years diaspora associations have by the Center for Basque Studies at the taken up the challenge to mainstream University of Nevada, Reno on behalf of the issue of ICTs into their agendas as the Reno Basque Club as well as by the these facilitate access to information Basque Museum in Boise. !e digital and knowledge in an unprecedented recording of the interviews, sound bites, manner. Consequently, they have opted summaries and indexes were made avail- for using technologies that favor their able online.9 In this regard, local stories institutional goals, strategic plans, and become universal via a global medium activities. Evidence shows that there is a P EDRO J. OIARZABAL 27 fast and dynamic adaptability and adop- !is digital space takes form in the tion of diaspora institutions to new Web fact that diaspora associations have technologies and software applications begun to move away from static and that meet social needs or have a social encyclopedic sites, which had tradition- purpose such as, for instance, maintain- ally dominated their online presence, to ing and promoting communication, in- more dynamic and collaborative ones. teraction, and networks. !at is to say, certain associations are !e online presence of the Basque di- increasingly constructing online com- aspora is neither trendy nor temporary. munities of relationships, by interacting !ose technologies make a real differ- with people who share similar identities ence for institutions and their respective and interests, to the detriment of com- membership. !eir impact on migrants munities of identity, interest, and self- and their descendants’ lives, heritage, representation. !e focus has shifted and cultural preservation is unquestion- from displaying information to produc- able. Without those digital technolo- ing information and transferring infor- gies, some diaspora institutions would mal knowledge by way of sharing it in a become handicapped in their organiza- constructive manner. !e Internet does tional capacity as well as in their capac- not only mean that users can influence ity to reach their goals. each other’s lives in any part of the globe Since 2007, there has been an increas- but they can learn from each other as ing tendency for the diaspora to articu- well as collaborate with each other. late an online presence in the form of On the one hand, the diaspora has computer and mobile-based social net- accelerated its presence across cyber- work sites. More affordable, faster, and space in quantitative (e.g., additional easier accessibility to the Internet and to platforms) and qualitative (e.g., diver- an increasing array of free software, pro- sity of platforms) terms by increasingly grams, services, and tools would surely constructing more diverse, denser, and multiply the use of SNSs in the near fu- overlapping and inter-linked networks ture. limited by neither time nor space. On Taking into account the issue of the the other hand, we are increasingly so-called digital divide, and the limited moving towards a horizontal culture, a access to the Internet and limited use of horizontal partnership of diaspora com- ICTs by certain communities within the munity-based associations, academic Basque diaspora, the impact of the In- institutions, museums, libraries and ternet is uneven and asymmetric. As of homeland as well as hostland institu- March 2009, 36% of diaspora institu- tions. tions had no presence on the Web. In Related to the utilization of new addition, the Basque institutional digital technologies by migrants as well as by diaspora is found halfway between Web academic institutions is the individual 1.0 and Web 2.0, constructing a hybrid and collective production of cybercul- space where elements of both software ture. If anything, the Web is ephemeral. architectures come together. Consequently, there is an urgent need 28 AEMI JOURNAL 2011 to protect and maintain our common References global culture that has been produced Alonso, Andoni and Pedro J. Oiarzabal. (eds.) in cyberspace since the invention of the Diasporas in the New Media Age: Identity, Poli- Internet. I would like to conclude by tics and Community. Reno: University Nevada Press, 2010a. opening up a discussion with the fol- Gobierno Vasco. Euskaldunak Munduan. Build- lowing questions: What can be done ing the Future. Vitoria-Gasteiz: Servicio Edi- to preserve our migration and diaspora torial de Publicaciones del Gobierno Vasco, digital legacies? And who should be in 1996. charge of creating digital archives to Oiarzabal, Agustín M. and Pedro J. Oiarzabal. “La Identidad Vasca en el Mundo: Narrativas store the diverse cultural and linguistic sobre Identidad más allá de Fronteras.” Bilbao: aspects that constitute our online-based Erroteta, 2005. cultures? Who would own this digitally Oiarzabal, Pedro J. “!e Basque Diaspora created culture? Webscape.” Reno: University Nevada Press. (Forthcoming, A). ______. “Diaspora Basques and Online Social Networks: An Analysis of Users of Basque Institutional Diaspora Groups on Facebook.” (Forthcoming, B). ______. “Basque Diaspora Digital National- ism: Designing “Banal” Identity,” in Andoni Alonso and Pedro J. Oiarzabal. (eds.) Diaspo- ras in the New Media Age: Identity, Politics and Community. Reno: University Nevada Press, 2010a. ______. “!e Online Social Networks of the Basque Diaspora. Fast Forwarded, 2005- 2009,” in Andoni Alonso, Javier Echever- ria and Pedro J. Oiarzabal. (eds.). Knowledge Communities. Conference Series. Vol. 6. Reno: Center for Basque Studies, University of Nevada, Reno, 2010b. ______. “Gardeners of Identity: Basques in the San Francisco Bay Area.” Urazandi Series. Vol. 23. Vitoria-Gasteiz: Basque Autonomous Government, 2009. “!e Basque Diaspora Webscape: Online Dis- courses of Basque Diaspora Identity, Nation- hood, and Homeland.” PhD dissertation, University of Nevada, Reno (2006). P EDRO J. OIARZABAL 29 Notes 8 1 9 10 11 2 3 4 5 6 7