Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Anna Amelina
Consulation time: Tuesday 15.00 – 16.00
e-Mail: amelina@soz.uni-frankfurt.de
‘Are We All Transnational Now?’ An Introduction to Transnational Studies
1 Session: Globalization, Transnationalization and Cross-National Comparison: Towards a Useful
Typology of Cross-Border Studies
Required reading:
Pries, L. and Seeliger M. (2012): Transnational Social Spaces: Between
Methodological Nationalism and Cosmo-Globalism, in: Amelina, A., Nergiz, D., Faist, T., Glick Schiller
(eds): Beyond Methodological Nationalism. Research Methodologies for Cross-Border Studies,
Routledge: 219-238.
(Additional Reading will be provided according to the preferences and interests of course
participants)
Part I: Broad Foundations
2 Session: Why Should We Combat ‘Methodological Nationalism’ in Social Sciences?
Required reading: Wimmer, Andreas and Glick Schiller, Nina (2003): Methodological Nationalism.
The Social Sciences and the Study of Migration. An Essay in Historical Epistemology’, International
Migration Review, vol. 37, no. 3, pp. 576–610.
3 Session: Global Ethnoscapes: Notes and Queries for a Transnational Anthropology
Required reading:
Appadurai, A. Global Ethnoscapes: Notes and Queries for a Transnational
Anthropology, in: Fox, Richard G. (ed.), Recapturing Anthropology: Working in the Present, Sante Fe:
School of American Research Press, chapter 10, pp. 191–210
4 Session: Transnational Social Fields Appraoch: On Mechanisms of Cross-Border Processes
Required reading:
Levitt, P. and Glick Schiller, N. (2004): Conceptualizing Simultaneity: A
Transnational Social Field Perspective on Society, in: International Migration Review, vol. 38, pp.
1002–1039.
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5 Session: How Do Global Cities Impact Globalization?
Required reading: Sassen, S. (2000): The State and the Global City: notes towards a conception of
place-centered governance, in: The new political economy of globalisation, vol. 2, pp. 220–239.
Part II: The Transformation of ‘Culture’ and ‘Belonging’
6 Session: Ethnic Minorities and Their Multiple Belonging
Required reading: Du Bois, W.E.B. (2008): Of Our Spiritual Strivings, in: The Souls of Black Folk. Essay
and Sketches, available from: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/408/408-h/408-h.htm
7 Session: Reorganization of Culture Across Time and Space
Required reading: Hannerz, U. (1996): Transnational Connections. Culture. People. Places.
Routledge: 61-89.
8 Session: Cultural Hybridity and Cultural Transformation
Bhabha, H. (1994): The Location of Culture. Routledge: 21-49.
9 Session: The Diffusion of Ideas in a World Society
Required reading: Finnemore, M. (1996): Norms, Culture, and World Politics: Insights from
Sociology’s Institutionalism, in: International Organization, vol.50, Nr.2, pp.325–347.
Part III: Migration and Mobility in a Transnational World
10 Session: Types of Transnational Social Spaces and their Key Mechanisms
Faist, T. (2000): The Volume and Dynamics of International Migration and Transnational Social
Spaces, Oxford: 195-239.
11 Session: Political Membership in the Transnational Age
Required reading: Østergaard‐Nielsen, E. (2006): The politics of migrants' transnational political
practices, in: International Migration Review, vol. 37, pp.760–286.
12 Session: Migrant Entrepreneurs as Transnational Economic Actors
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Required reading: Portes, A., Haller, W., Guarnizo, L. (2002): Transnational Entrepreneurs: An
Alternative Form of Immigrant Adaptation, in: American Sociological Review, vol. 67, no. 2, pp. 278298.
13 Session: Migrants‘ Religious Practices Create a Hybrid Universe
Levitt, P. (2007): God Needs No Passport. Immigrants and the Changing American Religious
Landscape, in: The New Press, New York.
14 Session: The Emergence of Global Care Chains and Transnational Motherhood
Required reading: Hochschild, A.R. (2000): Global Care Chains and Emotional Surplus Value, in:
Hutton, W., Giddens, A. (eds.), On the Edge: Living with Global Capitalism, London, p. 130–146.
15 Session: Final Discussion and the Evaluation of the Course
Required reading: Marcus, J. (1995): Ethnography in/of the World System: The Emergence of MultiSited Ethnography, in: Annual Review of Anthropology, vol. 24, pp. 95–117.
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