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This article investigates consequences of spatial contexts on interethnic contact. Despite the acknowledged integrative effects of pleasant interethnic relationships, several unresolved issues remain in this research field: investigations at two contextual levels simultaneously—i.e. neighbourhood and municipality levels; investigations of several contextual characteristics simultaneously, e.g. ethnic concentration, physical contact opportunities, population size; investigations on different kinds of interethnic contact, for example, contact with neighbours, with friends or in general. The present study contributes to these issues by analysing interethnic contact from a native’s perspective using a German nation-wide dataset. A considerably high proportion of Germans (72 per cent) have contact with foreigners in at least one out of four measured types. Ethnic concentration is the strongest contextual predictor for all kinds of interethnic contact. Physical contact opportunities in the immediate neighbourhood foster interethnic contact in the neighbourhood only, while municipality size mostly diminishes interethnic contact.

Transnational social fields and transnational social spaces are concepts used interchangeably in transnational literature. Both terms refer to the complex of connections and practices across borders. In this paper, it will be argued that though social network approaches are introduced by transnational studies, they inherit often a metaphorical understanding of social networks. As a result, the potential insights that the social network analysis might bring to transnational studies are hardly exploited.Therefore, the first part of the paper shows which relational or social network perspectives underlie the concepts of transnational social fields and transnational social spaces. The second part of the paper elaborates the potential benefit of social network analysis in researching cross-border social fields and spaces in reviewing case studies and offering different conceptualizations and measures (clustered graphs, diversity indices) to delineate transnational social formations. While clustered graphs allow assessing transnational embeddedness, the index of qualitative variation (IQV) can be used to show variation in transnationality in personal networks. The measures will be exemplified with the data collected in Barcelona from three groups (Chinese, Sikh and Filipino, N=25 in each group, 30 alters by ego). Finally, the pros and contras of the proposal will be discussed. Acknowledgements

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