Call for papers - Transnational Lives: Economies, Bureaucracies, and Desires

The workshop title reflects the particular perspectives we encourage. ‘Transnational lives’ suggests analyses that go beyond particular transnational practices—such as remittance-sending or expatriate voting—yet remained grounded in lived experience. The words ‘economies, bureaucracies, and desires’ allude to the diversity of encounters, frictions and forces that may shape transnational lives.

The workshop aims to make a concerted effort for analytical progress. Twenty-five years after the transnational turn in migration studies was introduced, what are the most promising lines of inquiry within a transnational perspective? How should developments in related fields inform our approach to transnationalism? What are the implications of changes in technology, policies, and societies for transnational perspectives on migration?

We specifically encourage empirically grounded papers that make theoretical advances in the research agenda on transnationalism, related to the themes outlined in the workshop title.

Transnational perspectives remain associated with international migration from lower-income to higher-income countries. We encourage contributions that widen this scope, for instance through studies of transnational living among élites in the Global South, among Europeans or North Americans without an immigrant background, or between countries in the Global South. In particular, we welcome papers that use atypical empirical cases to explore the potential and limitations of the insights that have emerged from mainstream studies of transnationalism. Similarly, papers that are founded on unorthodox comparisons could yield refreshing theoretical contributions.

Transnational lives need not be studied from the perspective of the transnational subjects. We welcome contributions that focus on people or institutions that interact with those who lead transnational lives. For instance, we encourage analyses of bureaucratic encounters between people who lead transnational lives and government institutions that have a primarily national orientation.

The number of places will be limited, since this is a two-day workshop without parallel sessions. Abstracts will be selected on the basis of their quality and relevance to the call for papers. In particular, we will assess the papers’ potential for making analytical contributions beyond specific cases.