TRANSNATIONALISM ONLY

• “Multiple ties linking people across the borders of a nation-state”

  1. 3 elements: (1) existence of a linkage or an interaction; (2) spatial element - linkages span across the borders*;* (3)

• “Sustained cross-border relationships, patterns of exchange, affiliations, and social formation spanning nation-states”

  1. cross-border relationships: kinds of linkages that can emerge from transnationalism

• “Interest in economic, social, and political linkages between people, places, and institutions, crossing nation-states and spanning the world”

  1. multifaceted nature of linkages that differentiates transnationalism from other phenomena (ex. trade relationships - solely economic; social changes - solely social)

• Sending remittances - relationship between migrant and transnationalism

• Not necessary that a person needs to cross a border to be considered ‘transnationalism’

• Existence of forms of linkages: cross-border relationships, patterns of exchange

• Nature of linkage: eco, soc, pol

• Other terminologies that differentiate transnationalism: temporality (sustained), linkages must happen more than once or continuously; spatial (nation-states): to be transnational in the true sense of the term, needs to have relationships between actors in different states; not just a one-to-one correspondence but also a network of actors interacting with each other 

• Both intensified due to certain advancements which led to intensification of transnational linkages, making them faster, more extensive, and more frequent

• How does transnationalism relate to globalization?

  • G has been facilitted by improved transportation, technology and communications, and this increased the extent (scope), intensity (regularity), and velocity (speed) and impact of transnational connections 

• Actors: states/ state representatives - act in capacity to represent state vs. non-state actors (businesses, individuals, groups, IOs, etc.)

• Interaction: may be neither patterned nor sustained vs. sustained & ongoing linkages

• Context: one nation-state to another (nation-states as actors in international relationship) vs spanning across nation-states; concept of states are used to dictate/ define space or spatial reality of transnational phenomena as spanning across nation-states and territories 

• Conceived as social formations spanning borders: linkages as a major element

• Traditionally applied to ethnic diasporas visualized in a triadic relationship existing b/w (1) ethnic group dispersed due to diaspora, (2) place where they reside presently, and (3) their homeland

  • Dispersed ethnic group, sharing an identity and connections with the homeland, thus have a linkage; but their residence in a different country also ties them in their destination country = transnational linkage from associating with both homeland and destination country; and associating with people/ culture creates transnational linkage

    • Social formations not only bound by cultural identity; other connections can be created not based on nationhood

• Transnationalist social formations as networks

  • Nodes (considered as actors) in different territories across the world who, when interacting with one another, creates a network not necessarily bound by nationhood or cultural identity but by shared interests or objectives = social formation

  • Ex. cross-border illegal activities

    • Trade can be transnational but have to look at actors: although trade services are patterned (international), relationship/ network among actors can be transnational (ex. parent company with subsidiaries all over the world)

• Social morphology focuses on the creation of social formations, or the network/ triadic relationship 

• Networks have created bonds among ethnic, religious, and other cultural identities, allowing people to identify with more than one community

• “Diaspora Consciousness” - term for identifying with more than one identity OR creation of new cultural identity/ label while still identifying with cultural aspects 

  • ex. Filipino migrants abroad who still associate with Filipino cultural heritage but identify as a national of destination country 

  • identifying with more than one community that makes up a person’s identity 

• focuses on what ties members of these social formations together = consciousness/ identity 

• Transnational networks, through global media and communications, has allowed for the flow of cultural phenomena and transformation of identities

  • When an identity is created or has to be tied together the linkage for it to be sustained, it is done through cultural reproduction = ensures/ helps assure that the specific identity is created 

    • Identities created in and associated with cultural phenomena that are not rooted in sense of nationhood

• Especially apparent in areas of fashion, film, music, mass media

• Transnationalism produces hybrid cultural phenomenon, e.g. “new ethnicities” 

  • Cultural reproduction = transfer/ flow of culture from one to another (ex. migrant Filipino mother transferring cultural information to kids; global cable networks catering to particular ethnic group) 

    • Gentrification of native/indigenous cultures happening within the state = disrespectful way of cultural reproduction 

    • There can be phenomena that are solely considered as cultural reproduction because there is no established linkage 

• Transnational networks have been modes of transferring small & big amounts of capital 

  • Ways capital can be moved from one country to another (ex. remittances that cross borders, subsidiaries with investment from parent and produce profit sold to parent company) 

  • Any movement of raw materials, goods, and services is essentially movement of capital 

• Governments recognize the importance of these transnational networks that facilitate the flow of foreign capital 

  • Encourage investments of TNCs within territories for foreign capital to enter; creation of efficient banking systems allowing for quick transfer of capital

  • NGOs who have garnered donations and seeks to create sustainable communities all over the world through donation to those areas which need aid 

• Transnational frameworks - global public spaces - have been actualized by technology

  • Technology has advanced to an extent that people can interact with other people in other places and be aware of issues that they are experiencing, and can relate to them to create political movements/ discussions spanning across borders (ex. MeToo, BLM) 

• Transnational actors (INGOs) have allowed for the distribution of resources from wealthy countries to poorer ones (ex. distribution of vaccines) 

• Transnational Social Movement Organizations work in various issue areas that are transboundary and try to create a planetization of people’s understanding 

  • Transboundary - affects multiple countries, like environmental issues/ human trafficking 

  • NGOs who work on these different issues are already a form of political engagement by acting and advocating on these issues to create acceptance as things we should work on 

• Migrants who are still involved in politics of their homeland (ex. political chapters over the world influencing home country) 

• Transnationalism often discussed as social morphology focusing on network (people, actions, and linkages) and consciousness (identities tying together a network)

• Transnationalism has changed the way people relate to space by creating social spaces that connect actors in more than one country 

  • Public spaces created that allows for transnational connections (ex. social media) 

• There is a growing disjuncture between territory & the collective social movement, due to the existence of social and virtual neighborhoods 

  • Because of creation of these spaces, concept of crossing borders to have transnational linkages is diminishing because global public spaces allow linkages with other people despite not moving anywhere

• Phenomenon is different from global public spaces and other types of transnationalism because they require movement of a person from one place to another - essential element of migration (spatial)

• Migrant transnationalism - a range of practices and institutions linking migrants, people, and organization in their homelands or elsewhere in a diaspora

  1. Wide conception of TM but essence of linkages is still there, alongside spatial element (connections existing b/w migrants and destination countries) 

• Study of transnational linkages between migrants and their families is not a new subject of research

• However, the ‘transnational turn’ to studying migration has provided scholars with the lens to study the increasing intensity, scope, and speed of migrant flows

• Old migration literature with microfocus on transnationalism as linkage, not focused on effects of TN on the linkage vs. new literature using transnationalism as lens focused on increasing intensity, scope, and speed of migrant flows as effects of transnationalism that have transformed interrelationships b/w and among migrants and other actors (ex. remittances for families and investment vs intensity, scope, speed) 

Transnational approach to migration still needs to be developed, and one of the ways to do this is to create types and levels of transnational activity

• conceptual conflation & overuse = tendency to overuse TN as concept

• oldness/ newness

• sampling on dependent variable = focus on phenomenon that result to transnational linkages (ex. presence of technology leading to linkages) but little studies on no creation of linkages despite presence of technology

• trans-what? = lack of distinction between trans-terminologies

• nation & nationalism = increased leverage placed on nationhood vs. modern TN with little focus on nationhood

• transnationalism vs assimilation = tendency to conflate or divorce when they are interrelated

• technological dimension = new lit focus but lack of study on TN linkages not dependent on tech

• not all migrants are transnational = not all maintain linkages to home country

• generational limitation = acknowledgement of strong transnational linkages for first generational migrants but lack of proof for succeeding generations

• From above vs. From below 

• Narrow vs. Broad 

• Great vs. Little 

• Linear vs. Resource 

• Dependent vs. Reactive 

• Broad vs. Strict 

• Core vs. Expanded

• Refugees

• Undocumented Migrants

• Return Migrants

• Etc.

• Those that travel between specific sites 

• Those who mainly stay in one place, but engage people and resources in a place of origin 

• Those who never moved, but are affected by activities of people abroad

• The transformationalist view of globalization contends that a variety of conditions and processes have combined to bring about large-scale patterns of transformation. 

• VS. Sceptic view

• Extensiveness of networks of relations, such that events in one region can have significance for people in distant regions of the globe

• Intensity of flows and levels of activity that are regular or patterned 

• Velocity or speed of interchanges, which allows for immediate feedback

Transnationalism, like migration, has its own set of conceptions and typologies, which gives us a grasp of the different approaches that should be taken to understand the phenomenon. Migration is not the only manifestation of transnationalism, but is an important aspect of it, given that it is one of the phenomena where we see the changing nature of transnationalism. Likewise, migration and transnationalism are important because they continue to shed new layers that need to be understood by the virtue of the transformations that they cause.