Indigeneity in Real Time: The Digital Making of Oaxacalifornia

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Mexican Indigenous peoples organized their lives from afar due to unauthorized migration and the restrictive border between Mexico and the United States. Zapotec and Ayuujk peoples adapted digital technology to their needs, set up their own infrastructure, and designed new digital formats for re-organizing community life across vast distances. This led to the creation of a transborder media space and the implementation of a communal way of life called Comunalidad and an indigenized American Dream.

Format: Hardback
Length: 232 pages
Publication date: 17 March 2023
Publisher: Rutgers University Press

Long before the COVID-19 crisis, Mexican Indigenous peoples faced the challenge of organizing their lives from afar, spanning between villages in the Oaxacan Sierra Norte and the urban districts of Los Angeles. This was due to unauthorized migration and the restrictive border between Mexico and the United States. However, in the face of these challenges, Zapotec and Ayuujk peoples took innovative steps to forge their own transnational paths during the Trump era. They achieved this by launching cutting-edge Internet radio stations and multimedia platforms, as well as engaging as community influencers.

This transformative approach involved adapting digital technology to their specific needs, establishing their own infrastructure, and designing new digital formats to re-organize community life across vast distances. Author Ingrid Kummels delves into the intricate details of how mediamakers and users in the Sierra Norte villages and in Los Angeles created a transborder media space and aligned their time regimes. Through their networking efforts from multiple locations, they embraced a communal way of life known as Comunalidad and pursued an indigenized American Dream in real-time.

The Zapotec and Ayuujk peoples' story is a testament to the resilience and creativity of Indigenous communities in navigating the complexities of globalization. Their innovative use of digital technology and their commitment to preserving their cultural traditions have enabled them to connect with their communities and the world beyond, despite the physical barriers that often divide them. This inspiring example highlights the importance of recognizing and supporting the voices and experiences of marginalized communities, and the potential for technology to be a powerful tool for social change and empowerment.

Dimension: 235 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781978834798