DIGITAL TRANSNATIONALISM: THE ROLE OF REMOTE COMMUNICATION IN PRESERVING THE VALUE ORIENTATIONS OF THE SERBIAN DIASPORA

Abstract

Migration theory has traditionally been grounded in the assumption of cultural rupture and linear assimilation, positing that physical distance from the homeland leads to the gradual erosion of original value orientations. The spread of digital communication technologies, however, has fundamentally transformed the phenomenological experience of migration. Focusing on the highly educated Serbian diaspora, this paper proposes the ‘Virtual Hearth’ hypothesis to explain how digital transnationalism operates as a conservative mechanism of value preservation. Through a theoretical synthesis and comparative analysis of remote communication platforms, most notably Viber, the study demonstrates that these tools generate ‘ambient co-presence’ that mitigates the hysteresis effect typically associated with displacement. By sustaining a continuous ‘transnational habitus,’ migrants maintain intersubjective bonds and everyday cultural rituals with the origin country, effectively slowing the acculturation process and reinforcing traditional values. A comparative matrix of digital behaviors among stayers in Serbia and leavers in the diaspora reveals a technological inversion: while the youth in Serbia use digital platforms for globalised modernisation, the diaspora employs them for cultural conservation and psychological validation. The paper concludes that contemporary integration policies must account for forms of ‘segmented integration,’ whereby migrants may achieve structural integration in the host society while remaining axiologically anchored to their homeland.