Conclusion

This concluding chapter revisits the key arguments developed in each of the four chapters and points to key implications of undertaking a study of home in the age of networks. It argues for a reconsideration of the contours of belonging in contemporary contexts of new media and transnationalism through its specific study of Indian immigrant cultures online. It contends that the question of belonging must be applied more thoroughly to the institutional contexts of online media, for not doing so would neglect a very significant alliance between capital and citizenship in the neoliberal, digital age. Furthermore, in the United States, especially since 2001, immigrants, racial and religious minorities, women of color, and the working class have found themselves at the receiving end of the disciplinary practices of neoliberal states and globalization practices. These institutional contexts shape belonging as much as the textual and hypertextual practices that generate categories of exclusion and inclusion in online media.