Transnational Migration: A Literature Review

Introduction
As various authors have observed in recent times; the old concept of immigration, where migrants settle permanently and assimilate in the host country is no longer considered an accurate description of the migration process . (Snel et al; Erdal and Oeppen) Indeed, various scholars have pointed out that many migrants live transnational lives (see Glick Schiller et al. 1995; Vertovec 1999)
The concept of ‘transnationalism’ may be traced to the early 1990s when anthropologists noticed intense interactions between the sending and receiving countries of international migrants (Glick Schiller et al. 1992). According to Glick Schiller and Fouron (1999: 344) ‘transnational migration is a pattern of migration in which persons, although

Many of these studies have focused on the apparent difference between groups and how that affects integration into a society (Erdal and Oeppen 2013). According to Snel et al, depending on how nation, ethnicity and difference are understood, transnational ties have been assumed to act as an impediment to the successful integration of migrants into the host society (Snel et al. 2006) They claim that in countries such as the USA where social security for immigrants is low, transnational activities, especially economic activities may act as an alternative source of income for migrants; but in countries such as the Netherlands where provides most migrants benefit from social security, non-economic transnational activities may hinder successful integration into Dutch society. Erdal and Oeppen argue on the other hand that ‘whether migrants’ transnational ties are seen as a significant marker of difference is central to how the impact of transnationalism on processes of integration is understood’ (Erdal and Oeppen 2013:3) . to them, although migration scholars, for many years have indicated that transnationalism and integration are not mutually exclusive, they perceive the interaction of migrant integration and transnationalism as one of a balancing act where migrants

This perspective sees the transnational connections migrants maintain to be a threat to the perceived cultural cohesion of the society in the destination country. This fear that transnationalism threatens social cohesion is even more pronounced when there is an apparent ideological conflict between the country of settlement and the transnational places that the migrant identifies with. According to Snel et al. terrorist attacks in various countries over the years have only strengthened this political viewpoint that integration and transnationalism are at odds and led to many Western States opposing dual nationalities (Snel et al. 2006). According to Erdal and Oeppen this is not only limited to the extremes of violent conflict but also leech into various social interactions and activities which engender a sense of mistrust from the majority population towards ethnic minorities. Nagel (2009) adds that it is not necessarily the presence of difference which creates this mistrust, but rather the kind of