Diaspora citizenship under hybrid authoritarianism

Masspersonal communication, digital counter-publics, and conflict transportation in Ethiopia

Bibliographic Data

ID24226157
AuthorsDavid Sinclair (0000-0002-9936-436X, Coventry University), Durukan Imrie-Kuzu (London School of Economics and Political Science)
Year2026
Pages1-21
Publication date2026-06-11
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueNew Community (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0047-9586 • E-ISSN: 1469-9451
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/1369183x.2026.2686405
OpenAlexW7164361619
LanguageEN
References cited45

This article examines how diaspora actors reassemble citizenship under conditions of hybrid authoritarianism through digital communication. Drawing on a collective case study of Ethiopian Somali diaspora networks – the Somali Region Alliance for Justice (SRAJ) and the Congress for Somali Cause (CSC) – it analyses how platform-specific communicative practices shape political mobilisation. Based on multi-sited fieldwork, digital ethnography, and document analysis, the study shows that digital counter-publics emerge not from platform affordances alone, but through masspersonal communication that enables citizenship claims to circulate within relational, identity-based networks. These communicative practices turn transported conflicts into negotiated frameworks for contesting belonging, boundaries, and political authority. The findings advance scholarship on diaspora citizenship, communication, and hybrid political orders by theorising citizenship as a relational, performative, and digitally mediated communicative practice.

digital platforms · hybrid political orders · performative citizenship · Political mobilization · sense of belonging · African Studies and Ethnography · Diaspora, migration, transnational identity · Social Media and Politics