PUB - Publikationen an der Universität Bielefeld

There are two conflicting interpretations of transnational migration. The first and common one is to view migration as a prime example of increasing globalization, the ever denser flows of goods, ideas and persons. The second interpretation highlights the fact that the number of migrants as a percentage of world population has not increased significantly over the past decades. After all, currently only about 3 percent of the world population reside outside the borders of the state whose citizenship they carry. However, both perspectives overlook the central sociological puzzle of relative immobility: Why are there so few transnational migrants from the many places in so-called developing and transformation countries? And whydo so many migrants from a few places in the South and East come to the North and West? A systematic analysis of the factors advancing and limiting migration shows that local assets are usually quite important resources for mobility. However, if local assets are transferred into mobile resources, transnational migration can be usefully interpreted as a case of the transnationalization of life worlds.