Özge Bilgili

As more first‐generation Chinese migrants in the Netherlands reach older age, increased attention is required to reconcile their care needs and expectations with the expectations and perspectives of their adult children. Moving beyond filial piety, this study examines how second‐generation Chinese migrants develop and reflect on their preferences and plans for their parents' care. The study employs a developmental life course perspective (DLCP) to contribute to the understanding of the evolution of care planning from an individual perspective. Drawing on semi‐structured interviews, the findings show that adult children are generally willing to support their parents, but seek simultaneously to establish boundaries in response to parental expectations. Institutional care is often preferred over family‐based care, particularly when intensive support is anticipated. In this regard, filial piety is neither fully nor seamlessly transmitted across generations. The analysis based on DLCP sheds light on multiple tensions that are either intensified or mitigated through the perceived relevance of Dutch and Chinese cultures, past and present parent–child relationships, sibling dynamics, and agency in striving toward ideal care arrangements.

How can research be conducted with a translocal lens in times and places of conflict? This chapter addresses this question from a methodological perspective. As a field of research, migrant transnationalism shares affinities with several approaches that challenge methodological nationalism, including translocality. However, there is no one-size-fits-all solution to empirical studies of people’s translocal lives. A range of methodologies―from multi-sited ethnography, surveys, and virtual ethnography, to mobility mapping and life-course research―can be adapted for conflict contexts. At the same time, greater synergies with the conceptual considerations, research ethics, and specialised tools of conflict studies are needed. This chapter reflects on how such synergies can be created and gives examples from the empirical chapters of this book. It will equip readers with key considerations for designing and executing empirically grounded studies in times and places of conflict.

An increasing body of research has found evidence for a discrimination paradox, the finding that higher educated migrants perceive more discrimination. Knowledge is limited, however, with regards to its omnipresence across the multicultural societies of Europe. Therefore, the present research assesses the generalizability of the discrimination paradox and investigates its context dependency for both personal and societal perceived discrimination. To this end, we present a series of macro-level factors that may aggravate the discrimination paradox. Employing the EU-MIDIS II data, we investigate the discrimination paradox for first- and second-generation migrants across nineteen EU-countries. Multilevel analyses conducted using these large-scale survey data show that the discrimination paradox is to a large extent a Western European and Scandinavian phenomenon. In Southern Europe, Poland and Slovenia, there is little evidence for such a paradox. This research moreover finds that compared to lower educated migrants, higher educated migrants perceive more discrimination on an individual level in countries with certain characteristics. Namely, in countries with lower levels of migrant overqualification, and in countries with a lower social distance towards immigrants, higher educated migrants tend to perceive more personal discrimination. These novel findings bring to light so-far uncovered conditions under which a discrimination paradox is more likely to be observed.

Who aspires to migrate internationally? This question has occupied the research agendas of many migration scholars. In this paper, we aim to answer this question using unique life history survey data collected among 604 internal migrants and non-migrants residing in Accra, Ghana. By making a comparison between the two groups, we explore the role of internal migration experiences in affecting international migration aspirations. Building upon the ‘hedonic treadmill effect’, which argues that individual migration experiences further increase migration aspirations, we investigate whether internal migrants in Ghana are more likely to aspire to migrate internationally than non-migrants and whether higher capacities and stronger feelings of relative deprivation can explain this relationship. Mediated logistic regression analyses show no evidence for the hedonic treadmill effect in this context. While internal migration is associated with a higher likelihood of being employed and stronger feelings of relative deprivation, these factors do not lead to stronger international migration aspirations. This is most likely due to the challenging context that internal migrants face in Accra, which reduces internal migrants’ total capacity to aspire for international migration. Future research could uncover the levels of economic capital as well as thresholds of relative deprivation that lead to observable hedonic treadmill effects.

This concluding chapter invites critical reflection on how migrant transnationalism can be studied going forward. We suggest that a transnational lens helps researchers grasp how lives stretch across borders, without assuming these experiences are unique to migrants or always significant. The chapter stresses the continuing importance of transnational lens in a world where borders continue to matter in both symbolic and material ways. We outline seven research avenues where such a perspective proves especially valuable. Reflecting on global imbalances in migration research, the chapter calls for more equitable and inclusive knowledge production. In a time when migration debates are often politically charged and exclusionary, a transnational perspective remains essential—not just for rigorous empirical research, but also for understanding how people live and act within an unequal and often unjust, yet deeply interconnected world.

This chapter investigates the interactions of migrant transnationalism and integration. It argues that understanding integration requires also being willing to adopt a transnational lens on relationships, identities, and resources shaped by movement and belonging in multiple contexts. It discusses empirical research over the past three decades, examining how transnational practices and integration interact, and considers the normative dimensions of what integration is or should be. The chapter critiques simplistic assumptions about transnationalism’s role, clarifying that it neither causes nor solves exclusion. Instead, it highlights the variability in how transnational engagement and integration may interact, and through this addresses common misconceptions, showing that transnationalism is neither inherently problematic nor a cure-all for integration challenges.

In this chapter, we introduce and explore approaches to migrant transnationalism, asking how cross-border connections were understood at the time the term first gained traction in the 1990s. The first section explores the ‘what’ of migrant transnationalism and traces the field’s foundations in interdisciplinary migration studies, emphasizing evolving approaches, and including tangible and intangible aspects of migrant transnationalism. The second section focuses on the geographies of migrant transnationalism–the ‘where’–places and spaces involved, discussing the two most used spatial concepts: transnational social spaces and transnational social fields. The third section examines the ‘who’–or the actors in transnational social fields—migrants, non-migrants, families, wartime migration, and religious actors. This section also includes considerations on time and the life course, such as whether transnational ties endure or fade over time?

This chapter explores migrant transnationalism in different areas of life, focusing on economic, socio-cultural and political transnationalism. It starts by looking at economic transnationalism, especially the importance of remittances—how and why they are sent, including digital and reverse remittances, and their effects on families and communities. Text boxes expand on the hawala system, transnational entrepreneurship, and the role of remittance costs in the Sustainable Development Goals. It then turns to sociocultural transnationalism, focusing on social relationships, traditions, and ideas shared across countries. It discusses the concept of social remittances, as well as transnational families and care. Finally, the chapter examines political transnationalism, including diaspora policies, voting from abroad, and dual citizenship. By connecting micro- and macro-level dynamics, it highlights how migrants’ transnational engagements shape and are shaped by broader structures across multiple domains.

This chapter examines methodological considerations in researching migrant transnationalism, focusing on how scholars can embed transnational awareness into research designs. Recognising that no single approach fits all questions, it reviews diverse quantitative and qualitative methods from across disciplines. The chapter emphasizes the value of multi-sited fieldwork, while also acknowledging the insights that can arise from single-location studies. It critically reflects on how transnational research often centres either migrants or their non-migrant counterparts, often in origin or residence countries. A contribution is a practical toolkit that discusses reflexivity, positionality, interdisciplinarity, and ethics as these relate to knowledge co-creation in transnational social fields, and across global asymmetries. The chapter aims to support researchers and students in conducting nuanced and rigorous, transnationally conscientious research, and highlights the enduring value of a transnational lens in migration studies.

This chapter discusses definitions of migrant transnationalism, a concept that captures the cross-border ties and everyday practices migrants and their loved ones may maintain across international borders. Transnational connections—such as emotional bonds, financial support, and cultural practices—demonstrate how migrants’ lives are often shaped across multiple locations, creating multi-sited or transnational lifeworlds. While migrant transnationalism is widespread, as evidenced by the global scale of remittances, it is not experienced equally, rather there are variations in how, why, and to what extent migrants engage transnationally. This chapter argues for the idea of applying a transnational lens to migration studies, and discusses the value of this approach, while also reflecting on the need to limit what is understood as ‘migrant transnationalism’. The chapter ends with an outline of the book’s main thematic areas and its structure.