Transnationalism, Migration and the Challenge to Europe

Book excerpt: Transnationalism, Migration and the Challenge to Europe: The Enlargement of Meaning puts forward an alternative outline for thinking about migration in a European context. Moving beyond the agenda of identity politics, the book addresses possibilities more related to the experiential and existential dimensions of migratory – and importantly, post-migratory – lives. Examining the fundamental and radical argument that migrants should be regarded not as a problematical category, but rather as opening up new cultural and imaginative channels for those living in Europe, the book draws on extensive empirical work by the authors undertaken over the past ten years. Grounded in the actual lives and experiences of migrant Turks, the book evaluates how their articulations regarding identity and belonging have been changing over the last decade. The agenda regarding migration and belonging has shifted over this crucial period of time. This shift is counterpoised against the unchanging national positions, and against the supra-national stance of 'official' European approaches and policies regarding migration and identity. Transnationalism, Migration and the Challenge to Europe would be of interest to those involved in sociology, anthropology, transnational studies, migration studies, cultural studies, media studies, European studies.