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Potential Of The Net To Construct And Convey Ethnic And National Identities: Comparison Of The Use In The Sri Lankan Tamil And Kashmir Situations
| Title: | Potential Of The Net To Construct And Convey Ethnic And National Identities: Comparison Of The Use In The Sri Lankan Tamil And Kashmir Situations | | Author: | Maya Ranganathan | | Publication: | Asian Ethnicity / Routledge, part of the Taylor & Francis Group | | Enumeration: | Vol. 4, No. 2 / June 2003, pp.: 265 - 279 | | Abstract: | This paper argues that the potential of the Internet to construct and perpetuate identities, especially ethnic and national identities, depends on the social, political and economic factors that affect the region and the people. The paper goes along with the claim that the Internet is a powerful tool in the creation of national identities, especially when the members of the community are widely dispersed and perceive themselves as suppressed or oppressed by another power. The Internet offers communities one of the most effective means of reaching its members, who may no longer live in the geographical area of the nation, while at the same time enabling them to evade the authority and power of the oppressor. Thus, the Internet is the most potent tool for creating and sustaining identities among people who are physically far removed from the nation. However, the Internet's efficacy in the instillation and nurturing of national identity is largely affected by the political, social and economic conditions of the people and the region. The article elaborates this point by analysing the potential of the medium in the long-simmering Kashmir conflict between India and Pakistan.
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