ABSTRACT
In June 2009, Iranian Americans organised through digital diasporas took to the streets to protest the Iranian election and claim their solidarity with the Iranian diaspora across national borders. How did the global moment ‘over there’ shape a perceived political opportunity ‘back home’? Drawing on interviews with second-generation Iranian Americans, this chapter shows how global events can draw the second generation into digital diasporas and collective action. Through these emergent spaces, the second generation organises around dual political opportunities to challenge conditions both there (Iran) and here (the United States) by connecting to a diasporic identity that is everywhere. Such a framework can help us better understand the ways that diasporas integrate sending and receiving cultures over generations and with new technologies, innovating new forms of belonging beyond national borders.
