Virtual Community Quotes

“Electronic virtual communities represent flexible, lively, and practical adaptations to the real circumstances that confront persons seeking community ... They are part of a range of innovative solutions to the drive for sociality--a drive that can be frequently thwarted by the geographical and cultural realities of cities increasingly structured according to the needs of powerful economic interests rather than in ways that encourage and facilitate habitation and social interaction in the urban context. In this context, electronic virtual communities are complex and ingenious strategies for survival.”
― Allucquère Rosanne Stone

“The policy impact of migration is often out of proportion to the actual size of migratory flows because of public perceptions in the host country that migrants increase employment competition, challenge religious, cultural or ethnic homogeneity or pose threats to national security.”
― Rey Koslowski, Migrants and Citizens: Demographic Change in the European State System

“Emigrants and political refugees often participate in home-country politics with an influence that is disproportionate to their numbers due to the acquisition of education and skills, the accumulation of financial capital and the cultivation of influence on host-state foreign policies toward their home countries.”
― Rey Koslowski, Migrants and Citizens: Demographic Change in the European State System

“The Internet transforms scattered refugee populations and emigrant communities into cohesive transnational political actors capable of mobilizing resources and influencing international policy.”
― Rey Koslowski, Migrants and Citizens: Demographic Change in the European State System

“Non-state actors and stateless national movements, when leveraged through diaspora networks in democratic host states, can effectively challenge the legitimacy of sovereign regimes.”
― Rey Koslowski, Migrants and Citizens: Demographic Change in the European State System

“Diasporas exert influence not through sheer numbers, but through the strategic deployment of financial resources, professional expertise, and political access in host countries.”
― Rey Koslowski