Transnational approach in contemporary migration studies

Abstract

The necessity of analysis of migration processes is caused by the diversity and widespread displacement of people in the modern world. When this occurred in the late twentieth century, changes in both the level and nature of migration associated with globalization and geopolitical processes, changes in nature of economic relations, and critiques of theories of assimilation and failure of the project of multiculturalism all demanded the emergence of a new approach to migration studies; i. e., theoretical designs that were capable of analyzing the impact of migration on both host countries and countries of origin. The paper presents an outline of transnational approach in current migration studies. We begin with the historical context of transnational approach’s emergence that was developed as a response conceptual challenge of crises of assimilation and multiculturalist approaches. Then we discuss basic assumptions and core ideas of transnationalism presented by Nina Glick Shiller, Thomas Faist and Larissa Remennick. In conclusion, several criticisms towards transnational approach are laid out.