A Critical Analysis of Transnationalism

The term of transnationalism has become increasingly widespread notion in many academic disciplines since 1980s. Although it has been articulated in a systematic way for the first time by anthropologists in order to indicate the symptoms of the probable rupture of identity from geography in international migration studies, it seems that political scientists have currently appropriated the term more than anthropologists and sociologists. I intend to show here, based on an empirical study, that the concept of transnationalism still has a utility for examining migration phenomena from a sociological perspective. It is simply a practical concept to examine institutional macro and non-institutional micro level power relations in migrants everyday life. This book aims at making a critical evaluation of transnational theories used in international migration studies by focusing on the transnational social fields established by Turkish migrants in Berlin in terms of socio-economic status, gender and generation. It should be especially useful to researchers and scholars who study on international migration, migrant integration and transnationalism."