PhD thesis final - Royal Holloway, University of London

Chapter 2- Conceptual frameworkAlthough different spatial settings and contexts allow for migrants to experience afeeling of homeliness or being at home in different ways, even the assumed mosthomogeneous environment such as the ethnic or national enclave, may be experiencedand felt differently by migrants. As O‘Reilly (2000) states, differences (in terms of class,gender, age, background, etc.) within the ethnic or national group always matter tomigrants‘ experiences (O‘Reilly 2000). In this regard, this research addresses Taiwaneseexpatriates‘ differentiated imaginings of home and practices of belonging. Besides, itwill further consider how the interactions and socialisations between Chinesesub-groups of different nationalities are shaped by their identities and affect theiremotional experiences of belonging.2.5. Interrogating transnationalismTransnationalism is now a widely accepted concept in depicting contemporaryinternational migration. Transnationalism is identified as the ‗process by whichimmigrants forge and sustain multi-stranded social relations that link together theirsocieties of origin and settlement‗(Basch et al. 1994:7) that has reached anunprecedented level in terms of its scope, volume and intensity in contemporaryglobalising world due to the development and advancement of transportation andtelecommunications technology (Faist 1999; Leivitt and Glick-Schiller 2004, Portes etal. 1999). The border-crossing practices in which migrant people invest time and theirlabour are evidenced by their actions to connect back to their families and theirparticipation in organisational activities (i.e. social movements and homeland politicalengagement) or by capital flows (Guarnizo and Smith 2003; Malher 2003; Vertovec1999). Through a variety of transnational practices, Vertovec (2009) demonstrates thatmigrants can transform the social, political and economic structures simultaneously53