Cassandra de Bartok (Eberhardt) | Queen's University at Kingston (original) (raw)

Papers by Cassandra de Bartok (Eberhardt)

Research paper thumbnail of Divided Diaspora: Southern Africans in Canada (Special Report)

Research paper thumbnail of Social Media, The Internet and Diasporas for Development

Research paper thumbnail of Diasporas on the Web: New Networks, New Methodologies

The recent focus on diasporas by migration researchers has highlighted the rich potential of migr... more The recent focus on diasporas by migration researchers has highlighted the rich potential of migrants as a force for shaping development activities in their countries of origin. However, the study of diasporas in development has also presented researchers with a number of significant conceptual and methodological challenges. It has been argued that since the nature of global diasporas are constantly in flux, so too should be the methodologies we use to study them (Cohen 2008). Using the Southern African diaspora in Canada as a case study, this paper argues for the supplementing of conventional approaches to studying diasporas with new methodologies that embrace the connectivity of diasporas, the emergence of social media, and the potential of online surveys. Online communication has become particularly valuable to transnational and diasporic communities. In the context of today’s electronic media there are opportunities for individuals using the internet to communicate in unprecedented ways (Weaver and Morrison 2008). The recent explosion of social media is likely to provide significant opportunities for diaspora connectivity, engagement, debate, and identity formation. It also provides researchers with innovative ways to locate and study diasporas. The paper illustrates the potential of this new methodology through the discussion of methods adopted in our current research on the Southern African diaspora in Canada. In this context, the potential of web-based methodologies in development and diaspora research appears promising.

Research paper thumbnail of Hispanic (Hybridity) in Canada: The Making and Unmaking of a Diaspora

Ethnic media are powerful, and yet overlooked, spaces that immigrants and ethnic minorities estab... more Ethnic media are powerful, and yet overlooked, spaces that immigrants and ethnic minorities establish to address issues that are not discussed in the dominant host society media. With the international migration of over five million people each year from majority to minority world nations, the emergence of ethnic media in countries around the world has increased significantly; however, relatively little is understood about the ways in which these spaces are used by immigrants and ethnic minorities. This thesis adds to a relatively new area of study in sociology, international development, and alternative media studies and investigates the ways in which Spanish-language ethnic media acts as a ‘Third Space’ where Hispanics disseminate, negotiate, (re)construct, and (re)articulate new notions of hybrid Hispanic-Canadian identity, an identity that operates against, and engages with, multiple-forms of difference and exclusion within Canada. A qualitative discourse analysis of 18 articles from Spanish-language ethnic media source El Correo Canadiense reveals the ways in which Hispanics in Canada negotiate hybridized identity by using ethnic media as a space to create a discourse that acts counter-hegemonically to Canadian mass-media. The findings also reveal the ways in which Hispanics are aiming to engage Canadians in the process of de- and re-constructing preconceived notions of what it means to “be Hispanic” in a transnational context.

Research paper thumbnail of Implications of Transnational Care-Giving on those 'Left Behind': The New Form of the 'Development of Underdevelopment' Thesis in the late 20th and 21st Centuries

An investigation of how the migration of young women/mothers from Mexico to the United States imp... more An investigation of how the migration of young women/mothers from Mexico to the United States impacts those ‘left behind’, gender roles and family structure. The findings of this thesis show that the migration of young women/mothers is having a primarily negative impact on (1) physical health and economics; (2) education and development implications and; (3) emotional and social development suggesting that there is a ‘gap’ in care which is occurring in the Mexican family created by the absence of mothers and the inability/unwillingness of fathers to assume childcare responsibilities. This ‘gap’ in care in Mexico is part and parcel of a global ‘gap’ in countries of the South that export, promote or facilitate the out-migration of young women/mothers to work in countries of the North for the purpose of securing economic remittances without uttering mechanisms and systematic processes in place that would ensure the well-being of children and families left behind.

Talks by Cassandra de Bartok (Eberhardt)

Research paper thumbnail of Latino Identity and Spanish Language Ethnic Media: The Latin American Diaspora in Toronto

Research paper thumbnail of Implications of Transnational Care-Giving on those ‘Left-Behind’: The New Form of the ‘Development of Underdevelopment’ Thesis in the late 20th and 21st Centuries.

Research paper thumbnail of Divided Diaspora: Southern Africans in Canada (Special Report)

Research paper thumbnail of Social Media, The Internet and Diasporas for Development

Research paper thumbnail of Diasporas on the Web: New Networks, New Methodologies

The recent focus on diasporas by migration researchers has highlighted the rich potential of migr... more The recent focus on diasporas by migration researchers has highlighted the rich potential of migrants as a force for shaping development activities in their countries of origin. However, the study of diasporas in development has also presented researchers with a number of significant conceptual and methodological challenges. It has been argued that since the nature of global diasporas are constantly in flux, so too should be the methodologies we use to study them (Cohen 2008). Using the Southern African diaspora in Canada as a case study, this paper argues for the supplementing of conventional approaches to studying diasporas with new methodologies that embrace the connectivity of diasporas, the emergence of social media, and the potential of online surveys. Online communication has become particularly valuable to transnational and diasporic communities. In the context of today’s electronic media there are opportunities for individuals using the internet to communicate in unprecedented ways (Weaver and Morrison 2008). The recent explosion of social media is likely to provide significant opportunities for diaspora connectivity, engagement, debate, and identity formation. It also provides researchers with innovative ways to locate and study diasporas. The paper illustrates the potential of this new methodology through the discussion of methods adopted in our current research on the Southern African diaspora in Canada. In this context, the potential of web-based methodologies in development and diaspora research appears promising.

Research paper thumbnail of Hispanic (Hybridity) in Canada: The Making and Unmaking of a Diaspora

Ethnic media are powerful, and yet overlooked, spaces that immigrants and ethnic minorities estab... more Ethnic media are powerful, and yet overlooked, spaces that immigrants and ethnic minorities establish to address issues that are not discussed in the dominant host society media. With the international migration of over five million people each year from majority to minority world nations, the emergence of ethnic media in countries around the world has increased significantly; however, relatively little is understood about the ways in which these spaces are used by immigrants and ethnic minorities. This thesis adds to a relatively new area of study in sociology, international development, and alternative media studies and investigates the ways in which Spanish-language ethnic media acts as a ‘Third Space’ where Hispanics disseminate, negotiate, (re)construct, and (re)articulate new notions of hybrid Hispanic-Canadian identity, an identity that operates against, and engages with, multiple-forms of difference and exclusion within Canada. A qualitative discourse analysis of 18 articles from Spanish-language ethnic media source El Correo Canadiense reveals the ways in which Hispanics in Canada negotiate hybridized identity by using ethnic media as a space to create a discourse that acts counter-hegemonically to Canadian mass-media. The findings also reveal the ways in which Hispanics are aiming to engage Canadians in the process of de- and re-constructing preconceived notions of what it means to “be Hispanic” in a transnational context.

Research paper thumbnail of Implications of Transnational Care-Giving on those 'Left Behind': The New Form of the 'Development of Underdevelopment' Thesis in the late 20th and 21st Centuries

An investigation of how the migration of young women/mothers from Mexico to the United States imp... more An investigation of how the migration of young women/mothers from Mexico to the United States impacts those ‘left behind’, gender roles and family structure. The findings of this thesis show that the migration of young women/mothers is having a primarily negative impact on (1) physical health and economics; (2) education and development implications and; (3) emotional and social development suggesting that there is a ‘gap’ in care which is occurring in the Mexican family created by the absence of mothers and the inability/unwillingness of fathers to assume childcare responsibilities. This ‘gap’ in care in Mexico is part and parcel of a global ‘gap’ in countries of the South that export, promote or facilitate the out-migration of young women/mothers to work in countries of the North for the purpose of securing economic remittances without uttering mechanisms and systematic processes in place that would ensure the well-being of children and families left behind.