1st Edition

Social Transnationalism Lifeworlds Beyond The Nation-State

By Steffen Mau Copyright 2010
    224 Pages 27 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    224 Pages 27 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    In recent decades, the rise of world markets and the technological revolutions in transportation and communication have brought what was once distant and inaccessible within easy reach of the individual. The territorial and social closure that characterized nation-states is fading, and this is reflected not only in new forms of governance and economic globalization, but also in individual mobility and transnational transactions, affiliations and networks. Social Transnationalism explores new forms of cross-border interactions and mobility which have expanded across physical space by looking at the individual level. It asks whether we are dealing with unbridled movements and cross-border interactions which transform the lifeworlds of individuals fundamentally. Furthermore, it investigates whether, and to what degree, increases in the volume of transnational interactions weaken the individual citizen's bond to the nation-state as such, and to what extent citizens' national identities are being replaced or complemented by cosmopolitan ones

    1. Introduction  Part 1: From National Containers to Transnational Social Spaces 2. The Nation-State as Container? 3. Globalization, De-Nationalization, and World Society 4. Transnationalism and Transmigration 5. Transnationalization from Below 6. From Presence to Absence 7. Spaces and Networks of Border-Crossing  Part 2: The Cartography of Transnational Social Relations 8. The Geographic Range of German Transnational Social Networks 9. Family Networks: Closeness with Distance 10. Mobility across Borders 11. Student Mobility on the Global Campus 12. International Tourism: People on the Move 13. Transnationalization of the Immobile  Part 3: Transnationalism and the New Cosmopolitanism 14. The Cosmopolitan Perspective 15. Attribution of Responsibility 16. Attitudes towards Foreigners 17. Transnational Trust 18. Identity: From National to Supranational? 19. Globalization: Threat or Promise?  Part 4: Unequal Transnationalism 20. Fragmentation through Transnationalism? 21. Transnationalism of the Masses or of the Elites? 22. Divided Transnationalism: West versus East? 23. Global City and Provincial Province? 24. Younger Generations as Movers of Social Transnationalism 25. Gender and Transnational Involvement  Part 5: Conclusion 26. Social Transnationalism: Reconfiguring Society and State-Relations

    Biography

    Steffen Mau is currently Professor of Political Sociology and Comparative Social Research, Bremen International Graduate School of Social Sciences, University Bremen.

    '[I]mportant and informative'

    '[T]he book covers new ground'

    'Social Transnationalism offers a detailed review of the various literatures that speak to the issues of globalization, transnationalism and cosmopolitanism.  This will appeal to undergraduates and more advanced readers who wish to understand or refresh their memories on these topics.'
    -Sonali Jain, Duke University in Contemporary Sociology, vol. 40, no. 3