Integration, transnational mobility and human, social and economic capital : concept paper for the ITHACA project

Abstract

The ITHACA project aims to contribute to the rising research and policy interest on migrant transnationalism and its effects on countries of origin and destination as well as on migrants themselves (and their families). This concept paper sets out the research framework within which the ITHACA Project will develop. More specifically, in this paper we propose a working definition of integration and highlight the conditions of integration that may be relevant for migrants’ transnational mobility. We then discuss transnationalism and physical mobility as one type, perhaps the most basic, of transnational activity. We connect our definition of transnational mobility to the wider field of transnationalism studies today. We subsequently focus on the types of transfers that may be triggered through transnational mobility. In the concluding sections we present the project’s research design and the research questions to be explored.