Introduction

292
Sonja Lehmann
fore, whenever the term ‘identity’ is used from now on it will denote the changes
of all the above aspects of ‘identity’ combined.
2.3. Identity and the Nation-State
When speaking of transnational identities it is inevitable to think about nations
first. After all, a transnational activity not only transcends the nation but it is also
where they begin as people live in nation-states. However, a nation-state is not
only a starting point for migratory movements, it can also function as a source of
identity as the following quote by Steven Vertovec points out in which he describes
a commonplace, more traditional understanding of the nation-state concept:
[A]s with the conventional model of the nation-state, some sense of identity
is presumed to characterize a people; this identity/people is believed to be
contiguous with a territory, demarcated by a border; within the border, laws
underpin a specific social and political order or system; this social order –
which is conceived to be different from orders outside the border – both
draws upon and reinforces the sense of collective identity. Identitiesborders-orders
are legitimated and reproduced through a system of narratives,
public rituals and institutions, educational materials, formal state bureaucracies
and informal social relationships, written and unwritten regulations,
sets of assumptions, and expectations of civility and public behaviour[.]
(“Migrant Transnationalism” 158) 11
The nation-state here categorizes its members by imposing laws and social orders
and by influencing them through education and expected norms. This categorization
and identification in addition stresses the commonality of the people within
the state and leads to the conclusion that people within the state differ from those
outside its borders because those have different norms, rules and social behaviour.
The nation-state’s members accordingly develop a sense of belonging and are thus
linked to their respective nation-state by “ties of sentiment” (Vertovec, “Migrant
Transnationalism” 156). In more everyday terms, the nation-state becomes their
home.
Ulf Hedetoft and Mette Hjort extensively reflect on the emotional implications
of what it means to feel at home somewhere. Similarly to Vertovec they state that
“home is where we belong, territorially, existentially, and culturally, where our
own community is, where our family and loved ones reside, where we can identify
our roots, and where we long to return to when we are elsewhere in the world”
11 Vertovec here sums up the findings of Civil Enculturation: Nation-State, Schools and Ethnic Difference
in Four European Countries, a compilation of essays he edited along with Werner Schiffauer, Gerd
Baumann and Riva Kastoryan.