The Politics of Migrants' Transnational Political Practices (original) (raw)

2006, International Migration Review

This article critically examines transnational political engagement of migrants and refbgees in local, national and global political processes. Based on inductive reading of existing scholarship and in particular the author's own research on Turks and Kurds in Europe, the article discusses key concepts and trends in our understanding of why, how and with what consequences migrants engage in transnational political practices. These practices, this article suggests, are influenced by the particular multilevel institutional environment, which mi rant political actors negotitutions in the sending and receiving country, but also global norms and institutions and networks of other nonstate actors. Finally, the article argues for critical examination of the democratic transparency and accountability of migrants' transnational networks in any analysis of their long and short-term impact on domestic and global politics. ate their way through. This environment inc P udes not only political insti-The field of migrants' transnational political practices is as complex as the multilevel processes, structures, and actors involved. Lately, research has sought to make typologies for 'degrees of transnationalness' or establish the socioeconomic or political institutional determinants for why transnational political practices occur in the first place (see, among others, Portes et al., 2002). Such research on the 'why' of transnational political practices is essential for identifying the scope and significance of migrant transnationalism. This article, however, also takes a closer look at the 'how' and the 'then what' of migrants' transnational political engagement. In terms of the 'how,' it concentrates on the continuous feedback mechanism through which migrants' transnational practices are being influenced byand influencetheir political institutional environment. Migrants' transnational practices, this study suggests, are shaped through a multilevel process of institutional channeling constituted by the converging or differing interests of political authorities in not only the country of origin but also the country of settlement, global human rights norms and regimes, as well as the network of other nonstate actors with which migrants' transnational political networks often are intertwined. Following such line of inquiry, it is relevant to look at whether the interplay between migrants' transnational networks and their multilevel insti