Exploring Identifications in the Transnational Social Sphere: The Potential of Social Fields

Abstract

The article attempts to discuss certain issues related to contemporary identifications, social changes and technological development that are reflected in the transnational sphere. The first one refers to the possibility of individual action within social settings and therefore the extent of individual freedom from exterior influences is at the forefront. The second one tackles the individual or collective perception of selves and the exterior world, which then leads to the third question: how can one actually consider identity construction or identification in transnational social spheres? The notion we believe can elucidate the complex relationship between the individual and society and reveal important aspects in identity formations is that of the social field, particularly the transnational social field. In the modern era, individuals participate in many social fields which do not always correlate with local or national boundaries. The possibility of their individual freedom and social change is thus more present, but is still conditioned by different types of capital and other social forces. The concept evokes the idea of a habitus, which reflects a different context of a structured framework of evaluations and expectations which, as proposed by Bourdieu (1977), leads to the conscious or intuitive prioritising of certain dispositions and practices. The concept allows us to explore how socio-economic, cultural and personal backgrounds influence a person's identity negotiations and constructions in the transnational sphere, while it also encompasses the influence of border crossing and transnational connections.

Pragmatism and Non-national Perception of Homeland by Younger Generations of Slovenian Emigrants

“…njeno preteklost, ki je medtem že minila. Domovino, po kateri hrepenijo, reprezentirajo z opremo in dekoracijo svojih domov, ki reprezentira slovensko tradicionalno materialno kulturo in simbole (Golob 2009;2010). Tudi ekonomski izseljenci v Zahodno Evropo iz 60. in 70. let prejšnjega stoletja poudarjajo pripadnost domovini z oblikovanjem svojih domov in z nedeljskimi in prazničnimi obredi, toda pomanjkanje vsakodnevnega fizičnega stika med njimi, zaznamovanega z rabo slovenščine (otroke so vozili na tečaje slovenščine v oddaljene kraje nekajkrat mesečno, povezovali so jih predvsem zdomski duhovniki), in integrativnega kolektivnega narativa sta povzročila asimilacijo najkasneje v tretji generaciji (Golob 2010, 127-128).…”

Exceptional membership and liminal space of identity: Student migration from Taiwan to China

“…Scholars also debate whether transnational ties or multiple identities weaken immigrants' integration in the receiving society or challenge the norm and practice of citizenship (Glick Schiller, 2005b;Vertovec, 2001). The social field approach allows us to examine the identification of transmigrants in global, national, and local contexts simultaneously -how individuals negotiate their presence on different levels that are socially and geographically distant (Golob, 2014).…”