Transnational Practices Research Articles

The Europeanization of Sports Associations Welcoming Migrants: International Recommendations, Local Contexts and Transnational Practices in Germany, France and England

ABSTRACT This article examines the impact of European recommendations, local contexts and transnational exchanges on sports programs for welcoming migrants. The “sport model” promoted by European institutions, which is not very restrictive, contrasts with the reality of highly differing national and local policies and contexts. Despite this, we discovered numerous transnational relationships among members of these sport programs in three European countries (England, France, and Germany). Analyzed from the concept of social figurations developed by Norbert Elias and allowing the interdependence of relationships, we show that these interactions help legitimize and disseminate “good ways of doing things” across borders. This horizontal sharing of norms and beliefs reveals finally the diffusion, from the bottom up, of an “informal Europeanization” of welcoming migrants through sport. In addition, migrants express an alternative, transnational and informal culture in sport, which also calls for the establishment of intercultural relations with the local population, which are often limited.

The United States in the World Today: How Sociologists Think About It and Why It Matters

The study of policy alone often means domestic policy, of interest to generalist sociologists interested in how political ideas are turned into domestic legislation, executive action, and/or court litigation. Foreign policy, as the financial, commercial, diplomatic and military relations of a state with foreign states, remains a niche subfield. But foreign relations should be conceived of as the broader set of entanglements between societies, encompassing transnational movements, expert networks, and fields. Then, sociological theories of foreign relations can interest generalist sociologists. In this review, we illustrate how this broad view of foreign relations applies to the study of the United States in the world today (USitWT) by first surveying how sociologists of the world society and world system have focused on transnational relations and the place of the United States in their dynamics, and how they have engaged with the question of power. We then demonstrate how field theorists’ study of transnational fields can allow sociologists to reconceptualize the historical role of the USitWT by highlighting continuities between European colonial governmentalities and current US transnational practices. This field perspective can allow sociologists to understand the USitWT as transnational, postcolonial, or neo-colonial governmentality, depending on the sociological and historical depth and range of its relation with different parts of the world.

Reactive Transnationalism and the Ascent of Donald Trump: Evidence From the Latino Immigrant National Election Survey

ABSTRACTBetween 2017 and 2020, the Donald Trump Presidency made for a particularly hostile context of reception for immigrants in the United States, but did it have any measurable influence on their adaptation? Hostility in the form of interpersonal discrimination is known to increase transnational practices—a pattern dubbed reactive transnationalism. But can a hostile government context produce the same result? The current study considers this by examining Latino/a immigrants’ transnational practices at three time points—the 2016 presidential campaign, between Trump's election and inauguration and during his early presidency. The latter should present the most hostile context. Pooled cross‐sectional regression models using data from the Latino Immigrant National Election Study confirm significant increases in transnational remittances and contacts after Trump took office. However, Trump's rise also coincides with a significant decrease in transnational political interest. Overall, the findings provide greater insight into reactive transnationalism and present several directions for future research.

The Contribution of Women from the Organized Colombian Diaspora in Catalonia to the Generation of Transnational Human Rights Defense Practices

Objective/context: To learn about the contributions of women of the organized Colombian diaspora in Catalonia to creating transnational practices in favor of peace and denunciation of human rights violations in Colombia. Specifically, we seek to identify the main actors, organizational spaces, and collective action repertoires developed by Colombian women in Catalonia. Therefore, we approach the literature on the political participation of migrant and exiled women from the perspective of political transnationalism. Methodology: This qualitative and participatory research study examines bibliographic and documentary sources, semi-structured interviews with Colombian women participating in the organized diaspora, and participant observation of mobilizations. Conclusions: The analysis and discussion of the results show that for some women, their participation is based on their exile and previous political involvement. For others, it is driven by the recognition of their condition as migrant subjects, as well as the different axes of inequality that cross them, which allows them to connect their individual discomfort with the collective discomfort of their country of origin and develop new interpretative frameworks and new repertoires of action aimed at sensitizing and influencing the Colombian socio-political reality. Originality: This research contribution allows for further debate on the transnational political role of migrations in a globalized world and what role women can play in it.

Public cultural policies and the challenge of inclusion: museums, universities and public associations in Delhi, Kolkata, Malmö and Saint-Denis

With extremely different federal, national and local situations, it is interesting to note that some public institutions - universities, museums, research centres, associations - are doing their best to integrate staff and members of the public who are excluded from their activities. Transnational practices and knowledge are tending to emerge from the perspective of Agenda 21 for culture, cultural rights and the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions.

Reaching out beyond the national border? How far‐right actors in Germany and Norway evaluate transnationalism

AbstractResearch has emphasised the importance of far‐right transnationalism, in terms of both ideology and practice. Yet, the literature lacks a comprehensive analysis of how far‐right actors themselves reflect their transnational practices (or lack thereof), such as party‐level exchange, joint protest events, or online communication. Drawing on original interview data from Germany and Norway, our research unveils that while far‐right ‘nationalists’ generally endorse transnational activities, only a minority actively participates. The interviewees perceive transnational practices as opportunities for strategic learning, showcasing of collective strength, and networking. Simultaneously, they express concerns about being associated with extremists and getting entangled in conflict‐ridden areas. Theoretically, we discuss the role of ideology and everyday life as well as the importance of only limited strategic incentives for understanding far‐right transnationalism. In doing so, we draw parallels to experiences made by left‐wing actors. Moreover, we underline the potential of Granovetter's ‘strength of weak ties’ for far‐right diffusion.

“We were leery of going”: qualitatively exploring Canadian international retirement migrants’ travel-related decisions during the COVID-19 pandemic

BackgroundInternational retirement migration, which is the seasonal or permanent relocation of older people to another country, has grown in popularity in recent years. These retirees are motivated by the promise of warmer winter climates that are conducive to participating in health-promoting recreational and social activities. Ease of cross-border travel facilitates this transnational practice when undertaken seasonally. However, border closures and other travel-related measures put in place to manage the spread of COVID-19, disrupted travel, including for older Canadians who typically winter in the United States (US). During the 2020-21 winter season, for example, Canadians were advised not to engage in non-essential international travel and the land border between Canada and the US was closed to all but essential travellers. Nonetheless, retirement migration remained a significant draw for many Canadian retirees. Here, we qualitatively explore the factors that Canadian international retirement migrants considered when deciding whether or not to travel to the US for the 2020-21 winter during the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsGuided by case study methodology, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 31 Canadian international retirement migrants who had wintered in the US prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and were in the US at the outset of the pandemic in late winter 2020. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and thematically analyzed to decipher what factors were most important to their travel-related decision-making during the pandemic. We structure the thematic results around four factors previously identified to motivate older people to become international retirement migrants and thus inform decision-making: the destination, the people, the cost, and the movement.ResultsThe previously identified factors that motivate older people to participate in international retirement migration include: the destination (e.g., climate and amenities), the people (e.g., social networks), the cost (e.g., health insurance and living costs), and the movement (e.g., ease of travel). These factors informed how international retirement migrants made decisions to travel abroad or not in the 2020-21 winter season. For example, destination-based factors included a lack of public health measures and high case counts, people-based factors comprised of less opportunities to engage in social activities, cost-based factors involved maintaining property investments and the lack of COVID-19 treatment coverage in available travel health insurance plans, and movement-based factors included challenges in ease of access when travel was viewed as essential or non-essential. These factors disincentivized or motivated international retirement migrants to travel abroad in the 2020-21 winter season during the COVID-19 pandemic.ConclusionsThe results of this study support the need to create tailored decision-support tools for international retirement migrants to make informed travel-related decisions during crisis events so as to protect their health and wellbeing. More research is needed to explore perceptions of risk, especially health risks, among international retirement migrants and how they differently affect their travel-related decisions.

Linguistic landscape of Shin-Ōkubo, Tokyo: a comparative study of Koreatown and Islamic Street

ABSTRACT This paper presents a comparative analysis of the linguistic landscapes (LL) of two distinct ethnic areas in Shin-Ōkubo, Japan: Koreatown and Islamic Street. By paying particular attention to the difference in the formation of the two immigrant communities, this study aims to better understand various functions of language on signage and their impact on socio-cultural interactions between immigrants and the host society. The findings reveal distinct functions of languages in the LLs, showcasing their significance to the dynamic process of immigrant community formation. In Koreatown, a major centre of Korean culture consumption among the Japanese, the symbolic use of Korean asserts authenticity and offers Japanese tourists an exotic experience. This creates a cohesive space of commodification, vitalising the area in harmony with the local host community. In contrast, Islamic Street represents a multifaceted space shaped by a diverse array of languages and scripts, reflecting its recent emergence of ethnolinguistic vitality. The LL of Islamic Street, characterised by the informational use of language that caters to the daily needs and transnational practices of immigrants, reflects and fosters their social and cultural distance from the host society.

National Assimilation and/or Cosmopolitan Transnationalism? Impending Transnationalism among the Upwardly Mobile Children of Refugees

In sociology of migration, assimilation theory anticipates second-generations’ socio-economic mobility into the mainstream. In contrast, the concept of transnationalism predicts second-generations’ simultaneous belonging to the origin and destination countries. We draw on 118 qualitative interviews with second-generation Somali-Canadians whose parents were refugees to assess which of these perspectives best explains our participants’ experiences. We explore educational and occupational attainments and transnational practices. Our data show upward mobility and an absence of contemporary transnational practices. Yet, we find that our participants’ refugee background impacts their transnationalism; their parents’ forced departures as refugees and the ongoing violence in their origin-country lead to second-generation Somali-Canadians’ lack of transnationalism. Many, however, emphasize their desire to discover their origin-country at some point in the future. As such, to contribute to the emerging literature on second-generations with refugee parents, we argue that refugee background seems to push transnationalism into the future for our study participants.

Transnational patterns, social networks and self-help organizations for migrant women

Previous research shows the importance of building up self-help structures in a transnational perspective for the inclusion of migrant women who are fleeing their home countries because of war, violence, or different forms of vulnerability. The mobilization of self-help organizations through the intersection of transnationalism and gender is, in fact, a useful direction for a practice-oriented pedagogy directed both towards (1) the most vulnerable groups of women, or (2) those already empowered either as community leaders or network facilitators, other migrants and the whole native population. For this paper, we compare selected video-interviews of refugee women collected in Bulgaria and Italy, which are important receiving countries either at the South-Eastern or Southern external border of the European Union. The research questions of this comparative assessment include: 1) How do refugee women organize themselves for mutual help? 2) How do they build their social networks through transnational practices to bridge with the local people? 3) Is community or individual empowerment of refugee women better for implementation through ethnic lines or a gender perspective? The final aim of this investigation is to analyse various patterns of social networks’ creation among refugee women originating from different socio-cultural contexts. The research findings might be useful to instil inclusion practices which are apt to refugee women empowerment.

The Bosnian House: Trajectories of (Non‐)Return Among Bosnian Roma in a Roman Shanty

This article draws on materials collected during ethnographic fieldwork among Bosnian Roma refugees who reconstructed homes in an urban shanty at the periphery of Rome (Italy). In the last two decades, many of these Roma started building or refurbishing houses in villages in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, close to the Serbian Republic (where their former home village is now situated). The construction, refurbishing, and maintenance of these houses played (and still play) a role in the local economy; they also changed the local landscape and became the mark of a new but intermittent presence in post‐Dayton Bosnia. The houses and the transnational practices connected to them have become tokens of economic success and aspirations that revolve around both the Bosnian context and the Roman one. They also express nostalgic attachments to a lost homeland radically transformed by war, foreign interventions, and the advent of the market economy and eventually turned into an unfamiliar place. This article builds on the literature on transnational migration and material culture and explores the ambivalence and complexity of transnational trajectories that stretch between an urban context in the EU and a rural one in non‐EU and reveals complex scenarios of identity, movements, and unlikely returns.

Weaving transnational spaces: Peruvian and Colombian suitcase traders moving across South American borders

ABSTRACT Our study addresses suitcase trading that involves buying goods from one country and transporting them across borders in portable packages, so as to avoid government taxes. Although a globally common practice, and a significant source of income for many, we have scant understanding of suitcase trade practices in South America. Therefore, we examine how Peruvian and Colombian suitcase traders establish and sustain transnational spaces by engaging in repeated cross-border trade activities between (1) Peru and Brazil, entailing routes of 3,500 km, and (2) Colombia and Venezuela, involving routes of only 1 km. Further, to analyse the spatialities of transnational practices, a focus absent in many studies on transnationalism and transnational spaces, we propose a perspective that combines mobilities, connections, and meanings. Our study, which employs ethnographic, biographical, and participatory methods with 40 suitcase traders, reveals that transnational space is not just an abstract entity in which transnational social practices occur. Instead, it is structured by frequent or occasional mobilities along specific routes and means, by socioeconomic connections between geographically distant or proximate sites, and by the meanings that individuals give to their transnational practices. Our findings emphasize that the perspective of spatialities helps us understand the heterogeneity of transnational spaces.

Emic and etic perspectives in transnational migration research: methodological reflections of a cross-national research team

PurposeThis article presents fieldwork perspectives and research reflexivity gained from the cross-national research team, with the aim of promoting better qualitative research practices in transnational research. It focuses on how the team incorporates diverse cultural perspectives and insider and outsider roles to enhance the research in the data collection process.Design/methodology/approachThis article is drawn from the authors' qualitative research with 25 Japanese retirees in Thailand, addressing cultural challenges encountered by researchers in the cross-national team when conducting field research.FindingsOur findings indicate that researchers with an emic view in the cross-national team who shared nationality and cultural background as the participants facilitated an effective recruitment process and productive collaboration in data gathering. They also served as cultural brokers, tailoring smooth communication during interviews on certain cultures, participant traits and sensitive issues. On the other hand, the outsiders helped the team uncover more transnational issues that the insiders had overlooked. Additionally, combining emic and etic perspectives helps to avoid ethnocentric narratives or purely etic and emic conclusions.Originality/valueThis article addresses a gap in the methodological reflections in transnational research that remains largely overlooked. Our reflection highlights the advantages of cross-national teams, which include researchers from emigration and immigration countries. Their status and roles as insiders and outsiders significantly facilitate a positive impact on the research process and increase the extent of investigating the complex cultural dynamics of transnational practices. The incorporation of emic and etic perspectives is suggested in the methodological approach for transnational migration research.

Prácticas transnacionales y calidad de vida de un pueblo michoacano con experiencia de migración a Estados Unidos

This research aimed to explore the transnational affective, family, social, economic and material practices and the perception of the quality of life maintained by people with migration experience between San Jose Huipana, Michoacan, and the United States, which allow them to maintain links between the country of origin and destination. A qualitative methodology, a phenomenological method, and a cross-sectional and descriptive study were used. Thirteen people with migration experience were interviewed in-depth, intentionally selected by typical-ideal cases, through snowballing. The data were analyzed phenomenologically. It was found that transnational practices favor the quality of life in general since they promote the physical, psychological, economic, material, and social well-being of active migrants and their families.

Globalizations from below: understanding the spatialities, mobilities and resources of transnational migrant entrepreneurs across the globe

ABSTRACT Transnational corporations have been long recognized as the building blocks of global system theory and their impact is widely acknowledged and studied. By comparison, we have insufficient understanding of transnational practices ‘from below’. We argue that focusing on transnational migrant entrepreneurship is a novel opportunity to gain insights into the social and economic processes of ‘globalization from below’. Such processes refer to the dynamics and practices initiated by actors outside the hegemonic socio-economic spheres who, using various resources, move people, goods and ideas across national borders to create small-scale enterprises thus connecting distant places and people around the world. This special issue brings together a transdisciplinary group of researchers who examine the spatialities, mobilities and resources of transnational migrant entrepreneurs in Asia, Europe, North Africa, South America and the USA. The rich empirical base, coupled with diverse research methods, provides new insights into the phenomenon to scholars, policymakers and practitioners.

Review of Lexander & Androutsopoulos (2023): Multilingual families in a digital age: Meditational repertoires and transnational practices

Review of Lexander & Androutsopoulos (2023): Multilingual families in a digital age: Meditational repertoires and transnational practices

Transnational practices of Kazakh repatriates: the role of family in the adaptation of ethnic Kazakh students from Mongolia and China.

Migration processes, which intensified in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, occur within a context of constant challenges and changing realities, necessitating new research in this area. Nearly all migrants, adapting to new forms of everyday existence, might experience socio-psychological stress. This study focuses on the socio-cultural and linguistic adaptation of the young generation of ethnic Kazakhs, as well as their psychological state within the educational environment, grounded in the concept of transnationalism. The authors conducted a survey and interviews with repatriate students from China and Mongolia in their native language, Kazakh. The research methodology, survey methodology and applied tools are comparable in terms of both qualitative and quantitative analysis. The sample population consisted of 230 respondents from five regions, aged between 16 and 25 years old. Furthermore, 30 qualitative, focused interviews were conducted. The discussion questions are related to several important factors, including the impact of the presence of relatives in the country of origin, the establishment of ties with them, and the integration of individuals into the social spheres of their historical homeland during their stay in Kazakhstan, as well as the processes of adaptation and integration into the new society. The results demonstrate the existence of transnational practices among the informants, which permits the categorization of these individuals as transnational migrants, despite the fact that a considerable number of them have completed the migration process. The findings of the research also indicated that repatriate students from Mongolia showed greater ease of adaptation in Kazakhstan, largely due to their more active communication with relatives and stronger inclination toward integration into local society. Conversely, Kazakh ethnic students from China, despite using contemporary communication technologies, encountered more challenges, largely due to emotional difficulties associated with the lack of physical proximity to their families and a prevalent intention to return to their families after graduation.

Building bridges of various sorts: Old and new migrant transnationalism among Uruguayans in Spain

AbstractThis study explores emigrants' motivations to form associations, their activities and engagement with home politics, and whether diaspora policies impinge on their practices. It focuses on Uruguayans abroad, who are a relevant case of migrant transnationalism. Building upon qualitative methods, it investigates their associational life in a main destination: Spain. The findings contribute to expand our knowledge of a relatively less studied diaspora, document associations' transnational activities and evolution and revisit debates on the dynamics of diaspora politics and transnational engagements with home/host politics, which in this case remain intermittent and fragmented, albeit intense and highly localized. The notion of building bridges of various sorts emerges as a signifier that gives meaning to individual and collective engagements. This opens new research venues and contributes to analytical refinement as to incorporate migrant transnational practices that are not neatly patterned, sustained in time and simultaneously identifiable in host and home contexts.

The Futures of English: Introduction from the UK

Abstract Will students raised on social media still read English literature? What is the role of English/American literature in the PRC, India, Australasia, the USA? What is the role of English language in relation to other global and local languages? What is the role of decolonising efforts? How do our respective state apparatuses affect language and literature teaching? Part I ‘International Perspectives on English Language and Literature’ summarises the global spread of English since the eighteenth century and outlines the concerns of the special issue: the global futures of English language and literature in information society in Africa, Australia, India, the PRC, Europe and the UK, and the USA; the role of decolonising efforts; and the role of our respective state apparatuses in higher education policy. Part II, ‘English Studies in Britain Today’, discusses the findings of the recent (June 2023) British Academy report English Studies Provision in UK Higher Education, including the decline in literary studies among students and the rise of Creative Writing in part in response to political‐economic rhetoric. Part III, ‘Global and World Englishes’, returns to global and transnational practices beyond Britain and Europe to argue for more inclusive, decolonising practices around world literatures. We might take the lived histories of global and world Englishes to transcend both romantic revolutionary and far‐right exclusionary nationalisms in literary and language studies in favour of more cosmopolitan, multilingual, and convivial approaches.

Of odysseys and miracles: A narrative approach on therapeutic mobilities for ayurveda treatment

In the past two decades, health care has become a global market and transnational practice. An emerging body of literature examines the astounding variety of drivers, conditions, and experiences. However, the question of how traveling abroad for treatment emerges as an option and takes shape in people's illness trajectories has gained little attention thus far. This article attends to this gap by following the stories of people with chronic conditions who travel to India for Ayurveda treatment out of dissatisfaction with local biomedical health care. This study expands the focus of current research on transnational therapeutic mobilities in three ways: (1) by shifting the attention from being a foreign patient or medical traveler to becoming one, (2) by integrating quests for other-than-biomedical therapies, and (3) by applying a narrative approach to the field. Results show that apart from social, human, and financial resources, it takes certain patient-subjectivities to mobilize patients across borders and healing systems.