Voicing Diasporas

Voicing Diasporas is a significant contribution to the fields of media studies and of cultural studies because it argues that the media, particularly that produced in diaspora, constitute a key site for identity formation. Whereas ethnic media have often been discarded, by academics and politicians alike, for various reasons, this manuscript is a good attempt to show that ethnic media should be conceived of as a diasporic/ethnic public sphere 'where traditions are celebrated and debated, ideas are created and reinvented, and cultures are avowed and challenged.' -- Isabelle Rigoni, MIGRINTER, Poitiers, France Voicing Diasporas: Ethnic Radio in Paris and Berlin Between Cultural Renewal and Retention by Nabil Echcaibi examines how Muslim minorities of North African descent in France and Germany resist the typical glaring generalizations about immigrant laws of cultural citizenship in both countries. The author, who teaches journalism and media studies at the Center for Media, Religion and Culture at the University of Colorado in Boulder, describes and updates the notion of diaspora today, reviews the much broader role of diasporic media, explores the limits of French universalism as seen in the Paris station, reviews the comparatively different picture in Berlin, and Draws some conclusions from these two case studies. * Communication Booknotes Quarterly *

Nabil Echchaibi is assistant professor of journalism and media studies and associate director of the Center for Media, Religion and Culture at the University of Colorado-Boulder.

Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: Local Bonds, Global Ties: Updating the Concept of Diaspora Chapter 3: Diasporic Media: Beyond the Ethnic Fault Lines Chapter 4: The Limits of French Universalism: Beur FM and Assimilation Through Difference Chapter 5: Radio MultiKulti: Challenging or Sustaining the German Heimat Chapter 6: Re-Orienting Diasporic Media Research: Some Conclusions Chapter 7 Bibliography