Trans Nationalism And The Politics Of Belonging

In this book, two leading authorities on migration and nationhood attempt to bridge the gap between experience and analysis, looking at: * the disorientating effects of space and time which migration creates * how migration affects our understanding of national affiliations and the nation state * the impact of cross national economic relations on everyday life. The authors examine the migration of both rich and poor, crossing borders and living increasingly diasporic lives, and show how even as people move across borders, they still seek to be at home in the world through the creation of a "politics of belonging".

This is a book that will get us all thinking about the implications of identities in rapidly evolving international and country-by-country politics.

As the EU continues its integration process, the concepts of culture and transnational European belonging remain ambivalent, whether in the realm of socio-historical representation or mass politics. Engaging with recent scholarly debates surrounding the formation of collective transnational identities, this collection draws on the latest empirical case studies to explore the meaning and composition of European identity, the mechanisms that create and shape it and the question of whom it includes. Each author pays close attention to the cultural aspects of identity formation, whether manifested in official, institutional articulations, such as symbols, coinage, ceremonies and discursive manifestations, or in the cultures of the everyday, such as through new forms of communication networks, consumption or leisure. Exploring attempts by various actors - institutions, groups, individuals - to create transnational European identities, European Identity and Culture scrutinizes the cultural formations that have either reignited or emerged in often contradictory relations to the EU project, including local, regional and transnational allegiances. A rich, interdisciplinary investigation of the role of culture in the formation of European identity, whether as a central building block to unity or as a formidable obstacle to a common sense of purpose, this book will be of interest to scholars across the social sciences and humanities working on questions of political culture, European integration, citizenship and (trans-) national identity.

With contributions from some of Canada's leading historians, political scientists, geographers, anthropologists, and sociologists, this collection examines the transnational practices and identities of immigrant and ethnic communities in Canada. It looks at why members of these groups maintain ties with their homelands -- whether real or imagined -- and how those connections shape individual identities and community organizations. How does transnationalism establish or transform geographical, social, and ideological borders? Do homeland ties affect what it means to be "Canadian"? Do they reflect Canada's commitment to multiculturalism? Through analysis of the complex forces driving transnationalism, this comprehensive study focuses attention on an important, and arguably growing, dimension of Canadian social life. This is the first collection in Canada to provide a comprehensive and interdisciplinary examination of transnationalism. It will appeal to scholars and students interested in issues of immigration, multiculturalism, ethnicity, and settlement.

In revisiting notions of sexual citizenship and belonging, this collection engages with topical debates about "sexual nationalism," or the construction of western/European nations as exceptional vis-à-vis an uncivilised, racialized "Other." The book is organised around three themes: sexual nationalism and international borders; sexuality and "race"; and sexuality and religion.

As the United States hardens its border with Mexico, how do migrants make transnational claims of citizenship in both nation-states? By enacting citizenship in both countries, Mexican migrants are challenging the meaning of membership and belonging from the margins of both citizenship regimes. With their incessant border-shattering political practices, Mexican migrants have become the embodiment of transnational citizenship on both sides of the divide. Drawing on his experiences leading citizenship classes for Mexican migrants and working with cross-border activists, Adrián Félix examines the political lives (and deaths) of Mexican migrants in Specters of Belonging. Tracing transnationalism across the different stages of the migrant political life cycle - beginning with the so-called political baptism of naturalization and ending with the practice by which migrant bodies are repatriated to Mexico for burial after death - Félix reveals the varied ways in which Mexican transnational subjects practice citizenship in the United States as well as Mexico. As such, Félix unearths how Mexican migrants' specters of belonging perennially haunt the political projects of nationalism, citizenship, and democracy on both sides of the border.

This international collection examines how ethnic identity and belonging are created and used politically in Europe and East Asia. The contributors respond to debates about whether and how regional, supranational, transnational, and multicultural identities may compromise nation states, and how nation states deal with such centrifugal forces. The issues are discussed from various perspectives: diasporic communities; the State and its role in inventing and influencing national belonging; and societies and communities with a strongly engineered multicultural structure. Two central theoretical chapters examine the current debates on 'belonging' and 'multiculturalism', bringing together this complex field and developing new perspectives. In particular, the volume improves our understanding of how people 'belong' in different contexts; by examining how they give shape to 'belonging' it is possible to understand how these diverse trends cohere within nation states and across continents.

In this era of increasing global mobility, identities are too complex to be captured by concepts that rely on national borders for reference. Such identities are not unified or stable, but are fluid entities which constantly push at the boundaries of the nation-state, thereby re-defining themselves and the nation-state simultaneously. Contemporary literature pays specific attention to internal and external notions of belonging ("Politics of Motion") and definitions of self resulting from interpersonal relationships ("Politics of Longing"). This collection looks at texts by authors who are British, American, or Canadian, but for whom a self-definition according national parameters is insufficient.