Beyond the issue of immigrant organizations : transnationalism as the engine of the immigrants' activities

Lisa H.

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Beyond the issue of immigrant organizations : transnationalism as the engine of the immigrants' activities

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Even though the word 'transnationalism' had been used since the 1970's in some scholars' research, the concept actually emerged during the 1980's. It has been quickly assimilated and appropriated by many disciplines such as anthropology, sociology, political sciences and other scholarships. The problem is that it has been used intensively, maybe too much, and often with some ambiguities at the end of the 20th century. Transnationalism thus, ran the risk of becoming an empty conceptual vessel. In the international migration research, the concept was introduced by an enterprising group of social anthropologists (Glick-Schiller, Basch, and Szanton Blanc) to refer to the "multi-stranded" activities created by immigrants across national borders. They presented the emergence of transnational social fields linking sending and destination countries as a rupture with the previous studies on international migration. Contrary to international phenomena that focus on the relations between states, transnationalism extends beyond them until encompassing them

Sommaire

Conceptual issues of transnationalism: the elaboration process of the definition of a new concept
1. The emergence of the concept in the migration studies: from the migrant to the ''transmigrant''
2. Transnationalism and the States: an antagonist relationship or a complex dialectic?
Transnationalism and the immigrant communities: beyond the ''transmigrant'' and the transnational practices, the existence of transnational communities?
1. From the traditional communities to the transnational communities in the post-modern societies
2. Traditional communities and the nation-state frame vs transnational communities and the transnational social space
3. The communities of migrant and the social network perspective: functions of the community
A particular transnational practice: remittances as the most common and central transnational practice
1. Remittances as the ''human face of globalization'': the economic manifestation of transnational practices
2. A transnational practice of growing concern: importance of a flourishing phenomenon and focus on the LAC area

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Extraits

[...] The transnational communities would be one of these new communities. They proceed from voluntary involvement of individuals who choose to set-up a community or to seek membership in it in contrast with the traditional communities. Moreover, the transnational communities of migrants are deeply linked with the idea of a de-localization of culture that is a culture “lifted from particular and familiar places and thrown into the ‘global post-modern' maelstrom” (Hall, 1992). Nowadays, culture is not confined to a single and specific territorial area, namely the nation-states. [...]

[...] Another point of contention is the relation between the different identities. They do not oppose each other: the identities present in the transnational space are not inherently subversive or counter hegemonic The communities of migrant and the social network perspective: functions of the community A lot of scholars use the perspective for their work, as Massey, Portes and Brettell since networks provide the channels and tools for the migration process itself, leading to such concepts as migratory networks and migratory chain. [...]

[...] Besides, most remittances are of relatively low value, are regular or frequent, and involve persons at both ends because they are generally targeted at family maintenance. Regarding the official definition of remittances managed while designing the Balance of Payments of countries, it appears through different categories. According to the definition of the International Monetary Fund migrants' remittances are reported in the balance of payments statistics under three categories: Compensation of Employees, i.e. gross earnings of workers residing abroad for less than 12 months; Workers' Remittances, i.e. [...]

[...] Gradually, as a consequence migratory networks that breach the nation-state society get larger enabling more people to migrate. Actually the more migratory flows increase leading to much more settlement; the more cross-border ties grow stronger. Nevertheless, the phenomenon is not completely disconnected to the states, neither are they doomed by something that jeopardizes them. Migration is typically a political matter dealing with foreign and domestic policies, both for the receiving states and the sending states. Migrant cross-border practices are therefore a matter of state because of the social and political consequences of these activities, above all when conducted in a collective and organized way. [...]

[...] the value of monetary transfers sent home by workers residing abroad for more than one year; Migrants' Transfers, i.e. the net wealth of migrants who move from one country of employment to another. However, it seems that many central banks do not follow the IMF's definition and report migrants' remittances under other categories as well, most commonly as Other Transfers of Other Sectors. Moreover, it obviously does not take into account informal transfer, especially non-cash items. At this point, it is highly important to underline clearly the difference that exists between both notions; each of them included in the generic term of migrant's remittances. [...]

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