Abstract
This article offers a theoretical examination of how transnational migration reshapes individual and collective identities in the context of accelerating globalisation. Drawing on case studies of Romanian migrant communities in Western Europe, the analysis explores how transnational practices create hybrid identities that transcend national boundaries.
Key Findings
- Transnational migrants develop complex, multi-layered identities that incorporate elements from both origin and destination societies
- Digital communication technologies fundamentally transform the experience of transnational belonging
- Second-generation migrants negotiate identity differently from their parents, often developing cosmopolitan orientations
- Return migration experiences reveal the instability of seemingly fixed national identities
Methodology
Multi-sited ethnographic research across Romanian migrant communities in Spain, Italy, and the UK, supplemented by digital ethnography of online migrant community platforms.
Implications
The study challenges methodological nationalism in migration research and argues for theoretical frameworks that can capture the fluid, multi-scalar nature of contemporary identity formation in a globalised world.
