The Neighbourhood as Home Away from Home? Potentials and Dilemmas of Homemaking in the Public among the Somali-Swedes in Rinkeby, Stockholm

Home, as a special attachment to (and appropriation over) place, can also be cultivated in the public urban space, under certain conditions that we explore through a case study in Rinkeby, Stockholm. This article analyses various forms of homemaking in the public among the Somali-Swedes who live there. It shows how, in the case of vulnerable immigrants, a neighbourhood feels like home insofar as it facilitates a continuity with their past ways of living, sensuous connections with a shared ‘Somaliness’, reproduction of transnational ties, and protection from the sense of being ‘otherized’ that often creeps among them. However, homemaking in the public is ridden with contradictions and dilemmas, including those of self-segregation. The grassroots negotiation of a sense of home along these lines invites a novel approach into the everyday lived experience of diverse neighbourhoods in European majority-minority cities

Immigrants and home in the making: thresholds of domesticity, commonality and publicness

n/

Dreaming of a remittance house: understanding transnational housing aspirations

Migrant housing investments in the countries of origin are a demonstration of their transnational engagement and their potential contribution to local development. Yet, these investments remain relatively understudied on a large scale. In this paper, we explore three related questions on the drivers, prevalence, and development of transnational housing, drawing on an original survey of Ecuadorian and Indian migrants in different European cities. First, what factors account for the likelihood of migrants owning a remittance house? Second, for those migrants without houses abroad, what factors account for the likelihood of aspiring to have a remittance house in the first place, as opposed to “not being interested”? Third, how do factors affecting the likelihood of owning a remittance house compare to those affecting the likelihood of being a remittance house dreamer? Our findings suggest that, among those without a remittance house, the likelihood of being a transnational house dreamer decreases with the length of residence abroad, while the length of stay has no statistically significant impact on the likelihood of transnational house ownership. We also find that migrants with greater economic capacity are less likely to be dreamers and more likely to be transnational house-owners, suggesting that the difference between being a transnational house-dreamer and a transnational house-owner is often financial. Finally, greater attachment to the country of origin increases the likelihood of being both a transnational house owner and a transnational dreamer. We also discuss how the results change across migrant groups and across genders

State College Times, June 2, 1932

Volume 20, Issue 73https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/spartan_daily_1932/1055/thumbnail.jp

Revisiting the “Transnational” in Migration Studies: A Sociological Understanding

After decades of extensive discussion and a number of empirical studies, the transnational approach is by now well established in migration studies. An open contraposition still exists however between its supporters and its detractors. As an attempt to move beyond it, this paper argues for the need to still elaborate on the sociological bases of this perspective in four respects: its underlying definitional issues, the nexus between its conceptual toolkit and that of “mainstream” migration studies, the need to situate transnational ties and relationships in migrant’s life course, the reflexivity which is necessary to appreciate the transnational as a potential social attribute and as a social science category. The scope for enacting proximity in social relationships from afar is finally highlighted as a promising topic for a richer sociological investigation of transnational social living.Après deux décennies de discussion intense et nombre d’études empiriques, l’approche transnationale occupe désormais une place de premier plan dans les études sur les migrations. Cependant il existe encore une controverse ouverte entre les thuriféraires et les détracteurs de cette approche. Pour tenter d’entrer plus avant dans ce débat, le présent article souligne la nécessité d’approfondir les bases sociologiques de la perspective transnationale sous quatre aspects : la question des définitions, le lien entre les outils conceptuels de l’approche transnationale et ceux des études sur les migrations au sens plus large, la nécessité de situer les liens et les relations transnationales à l’intérieur de la trajectoire de vie des migrants et la réflexion nécessaire pour comprendre le transnational soit comme un attribut social potentiel, soit comme une catégorie des sciences sociales. En conclusion, le processus de création de proximité dans les relations sociales à distance apparaît comme particulièrement intéressant pour enrichir les bases sociologiques des études sur la vie sociale transnationale.Después de dos décadas de debate académico, que se tradujo en una gran cantidad de estudios empíricos, la perspectiva transnacional está bien establecida en los estudios migratorios. Hay todavía una fuerte contraposición, sin embargo, entre sus partidarios y sus críticos. Para intentar de innovar este debate, el presente artículo subraya la necesidad de profundizar aún más las bases sociológicas de esta perspectiva, en cuatro aspectos: las maneras de definir el «transnacional»; el nexo entre los conceptos típicos de esta perspectiva y los de estudios migratorios en general; la necesidad de apreciar la importancia del curso de la vida, para los lazos y las relaciones transnacionales de los migrantes; la reflexividad que sirve para entender el transnacional como atributo social potencial y como categoría de las ciencias sociales. Al final, se argumenta que la posibilidad de «actuar proximidad» en las relaciones sociales a la distancia es un asunto de especial interés para el futuro desarrollo de las investigaciones sobre el «vivir transnacional» de los migrantes.Dopo due decenni di dibattito serrato, e dopo moltissimi studi di campo, l'approccio transnazionale occupa ormai una posizione di primo piano negli studi migratori. C'è ancora una aperta contrapposizione, nondimeno, tra i fautori e i critici di questo approccio. Nel tentativo di muovere al di là di questa contrapposizione, il presente articolo sottolinea l'esigenza di approfondire ulteriormente le basi sociologiche della prospettiva transnazionale, sotto quattro aspetti: le questioni definitorie ad esso collegate; il legame tra il suo apparato concettuale e quello più generale degli studi sulle migrazioni; l'esigenza di situare i legami e le relazioni transnazionali entro il corso di vita dei migranti; la riflessività necessaria per comprendere il "transnazionale" sia come attributo sociale potenziale, sia come categoria delle scienze sociali. Nelle conclusioni, i processi di "realizzazione della prossimità" nelle relazioni sociali a distanza sono individuati come tema di particolare interesse per arricchire le basi sociologiche degli studi sulla vita sociale transnazionale

Mapping social remittances

The notion of social remittances has gained a central position, discursively at least, in the literature on the effects of emigration on home societies. In this editorial we briefly review the strengths and limitations that this concept has displayed, since its early coinage in transnational migration studies. More of-ten than not, social remittances have been treated in the literature in a peripheral vein, ancillary to different foci of research. This Migration Letters special issue aims to move the debate on the theme beyond this unsatisfactory state of things. More specifically, we argue for four lines of research on social remittances to be further developed: the tensions between individualization and home-society based obligations and pressures, which shape the development and circulation of social remittances; the need to explore the embeddedness of economic remittances within a broader range of socio-cultural remittances (rather than vice versa); the interfaces between the categories of social remittances and social capital; the complex ways in which physical and social distance between senders and recipients affects the circulation of social remittances, as well as their impact on migrants' communities of origin