The International Encyclopedia of Media Studies, 7 Volume Set

25

Latino Diasporas and the Media

Interdisciplinary Approaches to Understanding Transnationalism and Communication

Jéssica Retis

ABSTRACT

This chapter analyzes the challenges and opportunities encountered when applying a transnationalism approach to the analysis and understanding of international migration contexts. Critical perspectives such as the political economy of the media, cultural studies, urban studies, and media practices in everyday life are useful approaches to incorporate in an interdisciplinary understanding of Latino diasporas and the media. Findings from a variety of research projects on media production, distribution, and consumption indicate that these performances are influenced by diverse variables such as the stage of immigration processes, generational and new technologies gaps, and social environments in the city of origin and destiny. Communication and information practices are transformed and reconstructed in the vicinity of Latino diasporas. The conjunction of quantitative and qualitative methods facilitates a better understanding of these complex social processes.

Two concomitant processes have influenced each other since the second half of the twentieth century. On the one hand, international immigration from Latin America increased in the 1980s and 1990s due to the structural changes brought about by the economic, financial, and social crises that characterized these “lost decades.” On the other hand, the field of communication experienced an increase ...