Theoretical and Philosophical Encounters in Migration Studies

Abstract

This chapter makes a critical review of the notions of identity, culture, ethnicity and the politics of difference in migration context. Introducing the term ‘IDology’ and scrutinizing the ideological nature of the studies of identity, Chapter I will also make a connection between the politics of identity and the ideology of neoliberalism. The processes of deindustrialization result in the marginalization of migrant-origin people with working-class backgrounds in a way that leads them to invest in their ethno-cultural and religious identities, which apparently provide them with a shield to protect themselves against the detrimental effects of the outside world. Chapter I also discusses the notion of the transnational field as a third space, which bears the potential of migratory context where the migrant, or transmigrant, may break up the binary opposition between cultures, geographies, lands, ethnicities and identities.