Transnationalising Civil Society?: Theoretical and empirical reflections on how to transnationalise citizenship
Martin Bak Jørgensen, SPIRIT & Academy for Migration Studies in Denmark, Aalborg University.
The paper takes a transnational perspective on developing an analytical framework for understanding how transnationalism interacts with civil society and how immigrant organisations use transnational strategies to challenge the pre-given positions of immigrants within given integration- and citizenship-regimes. Locating transnationalism as part of the political opportunity structure also indicates that the state(s) to some degree can facilitate transnationalism, directly and indirectly. A substantial part of political engagement now occurs via transnational channels. What is uncertain is to what degree, what kind of groups and which types of aims are pursued via these channels and this type of engagement. The paper ends with some preliminary empirical findings of transnational engagement and organisation among Alevis and (Turkish) Assyrians in Denmark, Sweden, and Germany.
Keywords
Transnationalism, political opportunity structures, citizenship, collective identity constructions, collective strategies
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