Transnationality as a fluid social identity

Abstract

How does the concept of transnationalism fit within the framework of social identity? What is the relationship between 'diaspora' and 'transnationalism'? Do transnational migrants define themselves as such, or are they labeled by others (researchers of simply 'others')? These are some of the questions we will try to answer in this paper by discussing the concept of 'transnationalism' through the lenses of several perspectives drawn from sociology, anthropology, psychology and political science, an approach that has been speculated to contribute to the functionality of transnationalism as a definition (Vertovec, 2001). We want to highlight what is characteristic of 'transnationalism' as a concept by integrating it within the larger perspective of social identity and by comparing and contrasting it with nation/nationalism and diaspora. While belonging to one group implies exclusions from other comparable groups, we see transnationalism as fitting well within the postmodern idea of fluid identity, where defining one's self depends on the audiences without affecting the 'true' meaning of self.

Fantasy of Conviviality: Banalities of Multicultural Settings and What We Do (Not) Notice When We Look at Them

“…The attractiveness of the agonist approach in urban multicultural setting (Coser 1956;Karner and Parker 2011;Amin 2008Amin , 2012a; Landau 2014; Rishbeth and Rogaly 2018) 4 lies in how it acknowledges the provisional character of identities (Mouffe 2000). This understanding seems to fit the trend in migration and diversity studies to de-centralise and de-stabilise the categories of identities and to demonstrate their hybrid and fluid nature (Bhabha 1994;Hall 1992;Kasinitz et al 2004;Bradatan et al 2010). At the same time, political agonism recognises the human need for belonging to a certain social group (Mouffe 2005).…”

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