Courtesy of HASTAC (2010).

Two HASTAC Scholars: Anne Cong-Huyen (UCSB) and Edward Gonzalez-Tennant (U of Florida) have hosted a discussion forum on Race, Ethnicity, Diaspora in the Digital Age. According to its descripton:

This forum explores the reproduction and (re)configurations of race, ethnicity, and diaspora in digital spaces. The history of race and ethnicity as a scientific/sociological concept and social fact are complex and multifaceted. Both terms are now widely recognized as being social constructs, albeit in significantly different ways and to very different results. These two terms have become organizing concepts in relation to identity with race broadly referring to physical or genetic/morphological characteristics and ethnicity denoting tribal, linguistic, national, religious, or other cultural characteristics. These terms, introduced briefly here, have long histories steeped in issues of power, domination, and inequity, but they have also served as a means of uniting and mobilizing sometimes-disparate populations.

Presently, the term diaspora emerges in regards to groups experiencing various forms of migration (e.g., forced, voluntary, labor), and whose consciousness concerns homelands, group histories, and transnational connections. The development of diasporic communities rapidly grows following and accompanying periods of war, colonialism, and globalism. The rise of digital communications tools and improved travel technologies have facilitated vast diasporas, which have resulted in destabilizing the notions of home, nation, community, and self. Diasporic inquiry compels us to reorganize rubrics of nation and nationalism, while refiguring the relations of citizens and nation-states. Therefore, the concepts of race, ethnicity, and diaspora refer to both identity and social relations. As a nation, we have tried to move beyond race, to a post-racial age, and yet we continue to differentiate, distance, mistreat, or turn a blind eye to others.

You can read more about the project and join the forum at its website.