The Chinese Overseas Organizations on the Internet, with a Note on the Socio-Cultural Phenomena Beyond the Webscape

Abstract

隨著過去數十載以來資訊科技的進步，有愈來愈多年屆世紀高齡的海外華人社群，以及新興華人移民所發起的團體，都紛紛將其組織推上全球資訊網。基於網路上的海外華人組織觀察，本文將簡要地(1)回顧網際網路在海外華人組織的傳承、轉型與發展上所扮演的角色；(2)檢視相關的學術著作以衡量現實世界的即景分析，是否符合我們在線上所獲悉的調查；(3)在涉及海外華人社會文化和政治經濟的情境下，討論網路應用與全球同族的電子總動員之間的相互關係；(4)分別確認某些代表性的束南亞華人組織，以及日本、美國和歐洲新成立的經貿、專業和學生團體在網上所顯示的特徵；(5)並以探討線上論述分析如何增進跨國研究的深度，以及賦予海外華人組織生動的面貌做爲總結。

With the advancement of information technology in the past decades, increasing numbers of established Chinese overseas communities and new organizations have created an online presence on the World Wide Web. Based on observation of the Chinese overseas organizations on the Internet, this paper (1) reviews the role of the Internet in the continuity, transformation and development of the Chinese overseas organizations; (2) examines related scholarly publications to see the compatibility of their on-site analysis in the real world with our online investigation; (3) discusses the relations between the Internet application and the electronic co-ethnic global mobilization in the socio-cultural and politico-economic settings relating to Chinese overseas; (4) identifies the characteristics of representative online Chinese associations in Southeast Asia and the websites of the newly established Chinese trade, professional and student organizations in Japan, the United States and Europe to compare the old Chinese communities and the new Chinese migrants on the Internet; and (5) concludes by exploring how online discourse analysis might add depth to the studies of transnationalism and give a living face to Chinese overseas organizations.