REVIEW ARTICLE Transnationalism Misapplied: Reconciling Empirical Evidence and Theory

Gregor Benton (1)

1 Dept of History and ArchaeologyCardiff University

Migration is a main topic and source of evidence in transnational studies, but such studies sometimes promote abstract theorizing above coherent factual analysis. Predetermined theoretical schemes can sometimes blind authors to the facts they themselves uncover. Some transnational studies romanticize migration by skating over the antagonisms in 'diasporic culture' and the plight of 'illegal' migrants, neglecting class distinctions, homogenizing 'transnational culture', and exaggerating migrants' mobility and options. In the two works under review, Hung-hsiao Pai's unwillingness to engage in abstract theorizing allows her to bring perspective and commonsensical clarity into her conclusions, whereas in its theoretical commentary Pál Nyíri's book reduces to a relatively undifferentiated landscape the distinctions its author otherwise so carefully identifies and the facts and observations he so richly documents.

Mots clés: Social Sciences & Humanities

Domaines: Anthropologie sociale et ethnologie

Gregor Benton. REVIEW ARTICLE Transnationalism Misapplied: Reconciling Empirical Evidence and Theory. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 2011, PP (PP), pp.1. ⟨10.1080/01419870.2010.538426⟩. ⟨hal-00670233⟩