Transnational Social Spaces of Polish Migrants in Leipzig (Germany)
Transnational Social Spaces of Polish Migrants in Leipzig (Germany)

Summary/Abstract: One phenomenon of globalisation is the transnationalization of migrants and migrant communities, creating new social fields and new identities between country of origin and country of settlement. This paper presents the preliminary results of a research project on transnational migration between Poland and the German city of Leipzig. It aims to identify aspects of transnationality and wants to show the transnational social spaces inhabited by the migrants. The analysis of the qualitative and quantitative data is done along a model of transnationality, differentiating between three spheres which refer to physical, cultural and identity movements of the migrants. It provides some empirical evidence of the interdependency between migration motives, duration of migration and several socio-economic variables on the one hand and the variations of transnationality on the other. The paper also raises the question of the implications of transnationalization for the European nation building process and suggests that transnational identity formations might serve as a model for a future European citizenship.

• Details
• Contents