PUB - Publikationen an der Universität Bielefeld

This paper examines the influence of class on migrants' social positioning strategies in transnational spaces. It contributes to debates about the processes of transnational class-making and class formation. Going beyond an analysis of class in socio-economic terms, the paper focuses on peoples' (changing) subjective understandings of middle-class membership as a relevant factor in migrants' transnational social positioning strategies. Based on qualitative interview data with middle-class migrants in Germany, the presentation relates their experiences with downward social mobility before and after migration to their subjective perspectives on middle-class membership over time and in different places. The findings show that middle-class performance is shaped by migration experiences but also shapes peoples' mobility trajectories and therefore influences and promotes different transnational lifestyles.