Cyberculture, Politics and the Public Sphere amongst Diasporic Groups in the UAE

This chapter uses results from the Emirates Internet Project to address effects of the Internet upon the articulation of expatriate communities in the UAE, in particular the Internet’s effect upon the aggregation of expatriate cultures and polities in the UAE. These groups’ differing online use patterns characterizes the ‘cyberculture of the UAE’, wherein expatriate groups merge languages, attitudes, habits or rituals, and thus identities. We examine and situate this phenomenon in terms of movement and the lack of permanence, and in so doing engage in Appadurai’s concept of flow. Flow is discussed in terms of the conjunctural articulation of the lack of permanence to identity, culture and polity. Emirati society relies on expatriates who form these diasporic groups. Our data suggests the online articulation of a sense of belonging through digital social networks, resulting in civic engagement in home and host countries. This is analyzed using Bourdieu’s concepts of distinction and ‘habitus’ in the ‘field’ to understand practice in everyday online life. The data also highlights a disengagement from political participation for certain groups while confirming the restructuring of social networks. We discuss how different diasporic groups deploy differing political agendas while consequently engaging in differing patterns of online behavior.