Transnational migrant communities and education strategies among Pakistani youngsters in Denmark

Abstract

Education has become an increasingly important factor in relation to migration and the social reproduction strategies of migrants. This article examines how migration and its minority/majority relational dimension play a part in the development of education strategies of Pakistani youngsters. Transnational migration research has shown that the relation of minority groups to the receiving society is clearly affected by local migration strategies, continuing relations with the place of origin, and the actual opportunities available in the host society. The transnational perspective is also crucial to understanding how minorities conceive their host society and the ‘national’ schooling system, and how they manage within these. Following a discussion of the notions of transnational migration, transnationalism and transnational migrant communities, I examine the significance of transnational migrant communities for understanding the education strategies of Pakistani youngsters in Denmark. Pakistani minorities have a long history of experience with migration and the need to integrate a widening and varied set of socio-economic conditions across local and national boundaries. Employing education as a social mobility strategy has become a more common practice among groups in traditionally caste-dominated social relations. Furthermore, among Pakistani migrant communities, biradari relations also operate as a flexible social category that affects the opportunities groups have to convert economic capital into schooling and education capital, and future symbolic capital.