ICS Seminar - Sukhmani Khorana

Presenter: Sukhmani Khorana

Discussant: Jasbeer Musthafa Mamalipurath

Chair: Greg Noble

Abstract

Conventionally, ‘aspiration’ is narrowly defined as material and social aspirations for oneself, one’s kin, or immediate group. This paper is interested in how this complex affect can be expanded to a more wide-ranging, all-encompassing sentiment for social/political/environmental justice. It develops this notion of aspiration through a consideration of how it appears in political culture. It argues that the political party and parliamentary structures in certain immigrant contexts not only enable more ‘ethnics’ to participate but also that this gives voice to their collective aspirations (that is, beyond the first generation’s presumed interest in aspiration as socio-economic mobility). Such aspirations are, in turn, reflected in the speeches and social media campaigns of other ‘diverse’ political representatives. This is demonstrated through an analysis of such material obtained from social media accounts and mainstream media coverage of Jagmeet Singh (Canada), Sadiq Khan(UK), and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (US). I focus on the social media profiles of these three culturally diverse politicians based in the Global North to demonstrate how practices of ‘digital intimacy’ constitute a kind of populism for diverse, younger political leaders that facilitate the channelling of collective aspiration for their followers and constituents.