Transnationalism and the Use of the Concept of the Transnational Social Field as an Analytic Framework
Transnationalism and the Use of the Concept of the Transnational Social Field as an Analytic Framework

Summary/Abstract: The aim of this study is to draw attention to transnationalism – a new conceptualisation of migration, which is based on the assumption that migrants do not inevitably exchange their old homes for new ones, but often create active social fields between their country of origin and the country to which they have migrated. Resulting from the everyday transnational practices of migrants, a social field is emerging that connects the social space of two nation-states. The author points to the fact that the world of migrants’ lives is formed neither by the original home nor the new home, but by the transnational social field. Thus immigrants are active subjects, so it is not essential to incorporate/integrate them into the majority society, and the process of incorporation and integration is thus not determined by the host country, since migrants participate in both countries concurrently. The author states in conclusion that the more transnational the immigrants are, hence the greater the intensity of their transnational activity, the less necessary it is to incorporate them into the host society.

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