engleski

Forms of Migrants' Political Transnationalism: Towards an Operational Typology

In the introductory part of the presentation various definitions and approaches to the research of migrants’ transnationalism are compared and evaluated. According to Portes et al. (1999) the concept of transnationalism should be limited to occupations and activities that require regular and sustained social contacts over time across national borders. Transnational (grassroots, non-institutional) activities should be distinguished from international and multinational activities of the more powerful actors. In the next part different theoretical and empirical studies of migrants’ political transnationalism are presented together with different definitions and operationalisations of various forms and levels of the phenomenon. There is a clear distinction between European and American perspective in contemporary research of migrants’ political transnationalism – the difference in the amount of research, focus and level of analysis. The final part of the presentation compares and evaluates some of the commonly used dichotomies and typologies of migrants’ transnational activities and identifies analytic dimensions that should be taken into account when researching migrant political transnationalism. At the most basic level of analysis it is recommended to analytically distinguish between transnational political activities of migrants and that of the governments of emigration and immigration countries.

migrants’ transnational activities; political transnationalism; home-town associations; analytic dimensions

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