Full Description
This book engages in the stream of transnational migration studies by drawing on an empirical examination of the ties that Tunisian migrants and their descendants, living in both northern and southern Italy, maintain with their country of origin.
Through the unique application of Pierre Bourdieu's theoretical framework to the study of transnationality, the book demonstrates how transnationality can be understood in terms of practice - or as the actualisation of a habitus generated in relation to the social position of the agents, through a constant dialectic between interiority and exteriority. Rather than engaging with selected concepts in isolation, the work employs Bourdieu's entire framework to develop a holistic interpretation of the transnational experience, where objective and subjective dimensions are intimately intertwined, ultimately leading to a praxeological approach to the analysis of migratory transnationality.
Towards Transnationality as Practice addresses a crucial gap in transnational migration studies, bringing a deeper understanding of the modalities through which transnationality is practised. It will appeal to scholars, researchers and advanced students with interests in migration and diaspora, transnationalism, cross-Mediterranean migration, social space, and belonging.
Contents
1.Introduction. 2.Transnationality today: debates and gaps. 3.On fieldwork: research contexts and the heuristic itinerary. 4.Migratory trajectories and their outcomes. Tunisians' social positioning in Italy. 5.Social capital on a transnational horizon: the 'crucial link'. 6.Beyond the multiplicity of belongings: a dispositional reading of identity. 7.Cross-border practices as a proxy of the transnational experience. 8.Conclusion. Understanding transnationality as a practice. 9.Appendix. 10.Index.
