What transnational experiences may signify for a migrant culture, which travels between places and spaces are discussed through case studies in this paper. By describing some Andean festivities and their contents I try to understand processes of cultural production as way of creating ‘an own culture’ in some European towns and cities. I study festivities where old and new meanings of identity based on a sense of community can be observed. Ways of constructing and representing a community as well as social unity with the means of Andean popular culture, dance and music, are studied.

Is it a question of defining new places and spaces for diasporic identities, or new identities through online and offline communities? Can these spaces be seen as new centres of meaning for diasporic groups or is it a question of reinventing and redefining traditions? How do issues of gender, nationality and age impact on the form and content of the festivities?

Celebrations where old and new meanings of identity and relationships based on enjoyment and relaxation can be observed, are focused. Issues such as how relationships between what is considered as the local, regional and national music culture are articulated, will be studied with ethnographic methods.

The development of urban folk music in Bolivia , since the 1960s can be seen as processes which have lead to an alternative cultural development. The paper aims to focus the pathways of this music, its musicians and its audiences creating a new music culture at the margins in the northern part of the world. I present some theoretical thoughts and empirical findings about the meaning of Bolivian urban folk music and the diasporic community where multiple identities and contemporary social and political issues can be articulated.  

Bolivian urban folk music culture is analysed as an intermediator between “folk and popular” /”rural and urban” and “global and local”/ music which is staged in different places and spaces. In the paper I also discuss how the participants of the diasporic communities are continually discovering a dominated culture and creating different forms of culture.

This proposed paper focuses on the relationship between representations of Bolivian urban folk music and Andean diaspora communities on the Internet. What transnational experiences may signify for a music culture, which travels between places and spaces, are discussed through case studies. Bolivian/ Andean urban folk music culture, which contributes to the construction of a relationship between folk, popular, rural and urban music and a relationship between a local and a global scene is studied.~I study virtual rooms as leisure spaces where old and new meanings of identity and social relationships based on a sense of community can be observed. Processes of staging social and cultural identities in cyberspace will be described. Aspects about relationships between Andean popular music, Latin American music and Bolivian music, stardom and audiences are addressed.Questions about defining identities and mixing influences are considered. I also try to show how contemporary social issues and changing identities are juxtaposed in complex collages in the virtual rooms, by musicians and their audiences, through affective links in processes of social production of music. Issues such as how relationships between the local and global music culture and new as well as old identities, articulated on the Internet, are examined. I attempt to understand processes of cultural production as ways of creating new meanings, spaces and a sense of belongingness in cultural activities of diaspora

This paper focuses on the relationship between representations of a Bolivian urban folk music group, Los Kjarkas, and Andean diaspora groups. Los Kjarkas is seen as part of an Andean urban folk music culture, which contributes to the construction of a relationship between folk, popular, rural and urban music and a relationship between a local and a global scene.

I attempt to understand processes of cultural production as ways of creating new meanings, spaces and a sense of belongingness in activities related to a European tour by Los Kjarkas in 2012. I study virtual rooms as leisure spaces where old and new meanings of identity and relationships based on a sense of community can be pursued. Processes of staging social and cultural identities in cyberspace will be described and analysed. Aspects about relationships between Andean popular music, Latin American music and Bolivian music, the stardom and their audiences are addressed. Issues such as how relationships between the local and global music culture and new as well as old identities, articulated on the Internet, are examined.

What transnational experiences may signify for this music culture, which travels between places and spaces, are discussed. Questions about ‘fixing authenticity’ and ‘mixing influences’ are considered. I also try to show how contemporary social issues and changing identities are juxtaposed in complex collages in the virtual rooms, by a musical community, through affective links in processes of social production of music.

This paper studies the appropriation of virtual spaces by the Bolivian youth in the Diaspora. I study virtual rooms as leisure spaces where old and new meanings of identity, and relationships based on a sense of community can be pursued. One of the central questions in this paper is however these new contexts are new places for diasporic identities, or new social identities through online as well as offline communities? What kind of identities and interactions are produced and reproduced through new media? By describing the new media and its contents I try to understand processes of cultural production as ways of creating ‘alternative cultures’ and new media spaces. These spaces may be seen as important centres of meaning for diasporic groups.

In the paper I try to show how the Bolivian diasporic communities of youngsters are created as ‘alternative public spheres’. Issues such as how relationships between the local and global music cultures and new as well as old identities are articulated on the Internet are examined. I also try to show how contemporary social and political issues and changing identities are juxtaposed in complex collages. The central arguments of this paper maintain that the participants in these diasporic groups are continually discovering and rediscovering a dominated culture as well as creating different forms of diasporic communities in different virtual leisure spaces.

Ethnographic methods are used in the project. Participant observation of relevant websites where different forms of popular culture and popular music may be staged are carried out to study questions of identity, origins and belongingness through case studies about internet communities

.

The aims of this paper are to present a case study of a music group which was carried out during a fieldwork in the year 1991 in Bolivia and to make some reflections about the group. The main theoretical contributions are from Raymond Williams and Alberto Melucci.

Music groups and musicians working since the 1960s in Bolivia with folk music and folklore can be seen as groups in search for a new cultural identity. During this period of time what I claim in Williams' terms to be an 'emergent culture', folk music in towns and cities, has also developed into an urban social movement. The musicians want to protect their own music and culture, the Andean music tradition, from the Western music that is disseminated through the modern media.

I will show in the paper some aspects of the 'emergent music culture' through the study of one such music group, Inka Llajta. The group is regionally well-known and their music can be characterised as neofolklore. Their aspirations to work with rural music and reconstruct their identity through their musical activities in the urban context will be described.

Through the I also wish to show how a music group creates new capacities for action and new social meanings in the 1990s.

This paper studies the consequences of the spread of music technology via the internet and how it is used by the global Bolivian diaspora. The use of virtual spaces by the diaspora and appropriation of this new media culture will be studied. I study virtual rooms on the internet, such as leisure spaces where old and new meanings of identity, “here” and “there”, and relationships based on enjoyment and relaxation can be pursued. Is it a question of finding new places for diasporic identities, or new ethnic identities through online/offline communities? Or are older spatial identities reproduced through new media and interactions? How do issues of gender, ethnicity and age impact on the form and content of the virtual rooms? By describing the new media and its contents I try to understand processes of cultural production as ways of creating ‘alternative cultures’ and diaspora media spaces. These spaces are seen as new centres of meaning for diasporic groups. Issues such as how relationships between the local and global music cultures and new and old identities are articulated on the Internet are examined.

The production and consumption of music via the internet is studied as an active local, transnational and national production of meaning. In the paper I try to show how the Bolivian diasporic communities are created as ‘alternative public spheres’, where multiple identities can be articulated. I also point out how contemporary social and political issues and changing identities are juxtaposed in complex collages. The central arguments of this paper maintain that the participants in these diasporic groups are continually discovering and rediscovering a dominated culture as well as creating different forms of diasporic communities in different virtual spaces.

Ethnographic methods are used in the study. Participant observation of relevant websites where different forms of popular culture and 'Bolivianness' may be staged have been carried out to study questions of identity, origins and belongingness.

This proposed paper discusses strengths and limitations of methodological procedures and approaches which have been experienced in a research project about staging cultural and social identities in Diaspora communities on the Internet. The research project focuses representations  of  dance  groups  and sociocultural, youthful dance  groups living outside Bolivia staging social and cultural identities in the cyberspace. Many of these groups are deeply committed to reproduce Bolivian and Andean music culture and dance. Throughout, the paper draws on a range of' illustrative empirical materials from a recent still ongoing research project.

Aspects of the use of virtual ethnography, mainly based on field work which has been used in the project will be discussed. Experiences of participant observational research combined and visual analysis of' relevant websites about popular culture and popular music to study questions of identity, origins and belongingness through case studies about Diaspora communities will be summa rised.

I study virtual rooms as leisure spaces where old and new meanings of identity, and relationships based on a sense of community can be pursued. By describing and analysing the Diaspora culture and its contents I try to understand processes of cultural production as a way of creating new media spaces by using the methodology of virtual ethnography. Issues such as how relationships between the  local and global music cultures and new as well as old identities are articulated in the Internet are examined with the methods of ethnography.

Materials from what can be seen ’on the screen’ ,visual, audiovisual and textual information have all been used as a source of information. Histories of the groups, social webs of meanings, down. Loaded performances ,events, recordings made about, and by the groups, are all part of the collected data.

Major points in the paper are: the definition of field locations. The important step of sampling and questions about which are the appropriated units. Aspects as the access to the field, field roles and the potentials of social interaction online are taken up. The use of  archival websites which have been used will be discussed.