GLOBAL SOCIAL THEORY What Is Transnationalism.

Transnationalism refers to the diffusion and extension of social.

political.

economic processes in between and beyond the sovereign jurisdictional boundaries of nation-states.

International processes are increasingly governed by non-state actors and international organizations.

Robinson (1998) states that, just as “social structure is becoming transnationalized; an epistemic shift is required in concurrence with this ontological shift.”

The major topics addressed by transnational studies include:

economic globalization.

the transnationalization of the state

classes.

political processes.

and culture.

the current integration processes taking place around the world through formal organizations such as NAFTA and the European Union (Robinson 1998).

A transnational perspective in research means shifting the unit of analysis from individual states to a global system.

Sociology’s object of inquiry.

its fundamental contribution.within transnational studies is the study of “transnational social structure” (Robinson 1998).Such a shift means locating non-state forms of governance in existing and newly emergent areas of international relations. Nye and Keohane (1971)

argue that transnationalism affects diverse areas of international governance including interstate politics, values, US foreign policy, and international organization.

Non-state sources of governance may develop out of existing, as well as newly emergent, social movements

civil society organizations.

Transnational perspectives provide deeper understanding into a number of globally contingent social.

economic.

political processes including social movements.

governance:

politics

political violence,terrorism,

organized crime among others.

One of the most fruitful areas of study has been transnational migration.

Research in this area looks at issues such as the salient interaction with the receiving society’s institutions.

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