New Latin American Migrants and the Australian Dream: Digital Technology, Identity, and Place-Making in Australia

• In Event: Latin American Migrations to Asia Pacific Countries

Abstract

his presentation examines the role of digital technology in shaping the ways Latin American temporary migrants construct a sense of place, belonging, and identity in Australia, focusing on the intersections of ‘mobile subjects’, ‘consumer subjects’, and ‘data subjects’. While Latin American migration to the United States has a long history, with deeply political associations with terms like ‘Latino’, Australia remains a relatively new destination for Latin American migrants. As such, the process of place-making and identity construction for Latin Americans in Australia is emergent and shaped by both historical and contemporary dynamics. Existing literature documents key challenges migrants face in reconstructing their identities within a multicultural Australian context, including the negotiation of individual vs. community identity (Cohen, 2010), the complexities of navigating multiple cultural frameworks and expectations (Coronado, 2003; Amigo, 2012; Nieves-Cortes, 2022), and grappling with concepts like indigeneity, discrimination, and bilingualism (Cohen, 2010; Fierro Hernandez, 2019; Jones-Diaz, 2003). Additionally, Latin American identities are understood as fluid and context-dependent, with terms like ‘Latino/a’ or ‘Latin American’ taking on different meanings across generations and evoking complex, often contradictory associations (Lewis & Peñaloza, 2020).
However, the literature largely overlooks the increasingly significant role of digital technology in shaping the sense of place, belonging, and identity for Latin American migrants in Australia. This presentation explores the pivotal role of digital media, including its contribution to the formation of a diaspora consciousness. As consumer subjects, new Latin American migrants are drawn to the ‘Australian experience’, marketed as a desirable lifestyle and educational opportunity, while as mobile subjects, forming part of a flexible workforce, their experiences reflect and reinforce ongoing tensions around marginalisation and visibility within Australian society. Furthermore, as data subjects, their identities in the digital space—whether intentional or not—have a significant impact on their social and economic lives. This chapter highlights how digital technology not only shapes the commodification of Latin American migration and identity but also plays a critical role in constructing and negotiating Latin American social positioning, identity, and sense of community in a 21st-century Australian context.

Author

• Abraham Zarate Heras, RMIT University/UNICAMP