Disciplinary Agendas and Analytic Strategies of Research on Immigrant Transnationalism: Challenges of Interdisciplinary Knowledge

Abstract

To be successful, an interdisciplinary approach to the study of immigration and transnationalism should begin by making different disciplinary languages about this phenomenon informed by mutual understanding of the conceptual frameworks, epistemological assumptions, and explanatory strategies used in research in particular academic fields. Drawing on studies in anthropology, sociology, history, and political science, I review here these taken‐for‐granted assumptions about “what is knowable and how” that underlie research on immigration and transnationalism in these disciplines. In conclusion, I suggest some avenues for mutual education in different disciplinary approaches and the epistemic gains derived therefrom.

ME VOY A ESPAÑA A TRABAJAR…: FAMILIAS MIGRANTES COLOMBIANAS, REMESAS ECONÓMICAS Y RELACIONES DE GÉNERO EN UN CONTEXTO TRANSNACIONAL

“…El carácter interdisciplinar que caracteriza a los estudios transnacionales ha visibilizado la contribución teórica que implica analizar el género como construcción social y activo organizador de las migraciones (Morawska 2003;Pessar y Mahler 2003). Dentro del amplio corpus investigativo sobre familia, migración y género, los estudios más frecuentes se refieren al análisis de género en familias transnacionales (Mahler y Pessar 2006:44); mientras que la relación entre remesas, familia y género en contextos transnacionales es aún un ámbito menos explorado.…”

Reframing Mexican Migration as a Multi-Ethnic Process

“…The first is the UC Santa Cruz Hemispheric Dialogues faculty working group's process of ''conceptual translation,'' an approach that tries to facilitate intellectual exchange by making conceptual assumptions explicit. For related ideas in the field of immigration studies, see Morawska (2003). The second project, which began in 1997, is the author's longterm participantobservation partnership with the FIOB (Frente Indígena de now even including Mayans from the Yucatan and Chiapas (e.g., Burke, 2004;Fox and Rivera-Salgado, 2004;Schmidt and Crummett, 2004).…”

Transnational histories of social work and social welfare – An introduction

“…While interdisciplinary perspectives can generate new understandings at the intersection of different fields, there are also unavoidable challenges arising from different epistemologies, methodologies, and discipline-specific assumptions (Morawska, 2003). Historical research of welfare institutions emphasizes their temporal and societal embeddedness and may be less concerned with theoretical underpinnings, while social scientists tend to look for "atemporal" aspects of social welfare processes and rely on more abstract and general concepts and frameworks.…”