Transnational Migration - (Immigration and Society) by Thomas Faist & Margit Fauser & Eveline Reisenauer (Paperback)

About the Book

This is the first book to provide an accessible yet rigorous overview of transnational migration, as experienced by family and kinship groups, networks of entrepreneurs, diasporas, and immigrant associations. As well as defining the core concept, the book explores its implications for immigrant integration, and its relationship to assimilation.

Book Synopsis

Increasing interconnections between nation-states across borders have rendered the transnational a key tool for understanding our world. It has made particularly strong contributions to immigration studies and holds great promise for deepening insights into international migration.

This is the first book to provide an accessible yet rigorous overview of transnational migration, as experienced by family and kinship groups, networks of entrepreneurs, diasporas and immigrant associations. As well as defining the core concept, it explores the implications of transnational migration for immigrant integration and its relationship to assimilation. By examining its political, economic, social, and cultural dimensions, the authors capture the distinctive features of the new immigrant communities that have reshaped the ethno-cultural mix of receiving nations, including the US and Western Europe. Importantly, the book also examines the effects of transnationality on sending communities, viewing migrants as agents of political and economic development.

This systematic and critical overview of transnational migration perfectly balances theoretical discussion with relevant examples and cases, making it an ideal book for upper-level students covering immigration and transnational relations on sociology, political science, and globalization courses.

Review Quotes

"This is an important book for all scholars conducting research on the characteristics and effects of transnational migration on both origins and destinations. Highly recommended"
Choice

'Embraced by many and damned by others, the transnational perspective has become hugely influential. But it is in need of a clear and lucid synthesis. Here it is. This remarkably well-written and engaging book provides a critical, original, and theoretically stimulating overview of a process that is transforming societies across the world.'
Luis Eduardo Guarnizo, University of California, Davis

'A well-organized introduction to how social scientists should engage with the cross-border connections that many migrants maintain and with the role these ties possibly play for economic development, changing concepts of citizenship, and networks of civil society organizations. A must-read for anyone who approaches the subject with an analytical mind.'
Andreas Wimmer, University of California, Los Angeles

'This book addresses key concepts and controversies that have marked the emergence of the transnational migration paradigm. The authors assess the mundane transborder familial, religious, social, cultural, and political practices that sustain hope and opportunity in myriad corners of the world. Transnational Migration is a welcome intervention at the current moment. Rhetorics about failed integration are countered with astute analysis of the role of transnational social fields in a precarious world.'
Nina Glick Schiller, University of Manchester

"The book is clearly argued and is written in easily accessible language avoiding unnecessary jargon relatively well, and it can serve as an excellent introduction to contemporary migration research."
Political Studies Review

About the Author

Thomas Faist is professor of transnational, development and migration studies at the Bielefeld University, Germany.

Margit Fauser is a researcher in the department of sociology at Bielefeld University, Germany.

Eveline Reisenauer is a researcher in the department of sociology at Bielefeld University, Germany.