Members
TRANSWEL is a research project that explores what it means to live in two countries, how individuals manage such a way of life, and how it affects interactions between individuals and state institutions.
A growing number of people live partly in one country and partly in another, for instance splitting work and leisure between two countries, spending part of the year in each, or living mainly in a country other than the one that provides social security. We call such lives 'transnational lives'. Some people are able to spend a lot of time in each country every year. Others are limited by work or children's school, for instance, but invest time and resources in both countries.
We are interested in transnational living because it concerns what it means to be part of a society, and because it as an aspect of globalization. We believe that more knowledge can help develop better policies and help reduce unnecessary bureaucratic frustrations. It is also essential for the welfare state to find ways of accommodating the fact that many people live partly witihin it and partly outside it.
The project carried out by researchers in Norway and the Netherlands. Research within the project will explore transnatinal lives that are lived partly in one of these two countries and partly in another country. The work is guided by the following objectives:
- Document the experiences, joys, and frustrations, of living partly in one country and partly in another.
- Find out who wants to live in two countries, as opposed to settling completely in one.
- Examine how people who live in two countries experience the encounter with state institutions in each country.
- Examine how state institutions in the Netherlands and Norway engage with people who lead transnational lives.
- Explore how the welfare state can approach the benefits and challenges of transnational living.
TRANSWEL has a dedicated facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/transwel
The project team
The TRANSWEL team: Erik Snel, Marije Faber, Marta Bivand Erdal, Grete Brochmann, Cathrine Talleraas, Jørgen Carling, Godfried Engbersen
Participation in the project
We will be conducting interviews in Norway and the Netherlands in 2015 and 2016. In both countries we interview people who lead transnational lives. In Norway we also interview employees in specific government institutions.
Information folder
A brief presentation of the project is available for download in three languages:
Successful Thesis Defense by Cathrine Talleraas
PRIO congratulates Cathrine Talleraas, who has successfully defended her doctoral thesis at the Department of Sociology and Human Geography in the Faculty of Social Sciences at UiO.
Changes in the Migration Research Group
Marta Bivand Erdal takes over from Jørgen Carling as coordinator of the Migration Research Group from 1 July 2018. She has also previously had this role.
Jørgen Carling will be based in Guangzhou, China, from August 2018 until June 2019 in connection with his wife's research. He will continue carrying out his PRIO research and will return to Oslo several times in the course of the year.
Cathrine Talleraas has moved to Bergen with her family. She will be based at Chr. Michelsen Institute in Bergen but keep doing her doctoral research as a PRIO employee under the TRANSWEL project. She will return regularly to Oslo.
Call for papers: Categories in research and policy on migration and transnationalism
The 15th Annual Conference of IMISCOE (International Migration, Integration and Social Cohesion in Europe), Barcelona, 2–4 July 2018
Call for papers - Transnational Lives: Economies, Bureaucracies, and Desires
We invite abstracts for an exploratory workshop in Oslo, 11-12 January 2018, that will examine the significance and implications of leading life in two (or more) countries.
Call for papers: The interactions between integration and migrants’ transnational development activities
We invite abstracts for a session at the 13th IMISCOE conference (International Migration, Integration and Social Cohesion in Europe), Prague 30 June – 2 July 2016. Deadline for submission of abstracts: 18 January 2016.
Migrants’ Multifocal Sedentarism: Ambivalent Belonging and Desired Recognition in Transnational Social Fields Connecting Pakistan and Norway
Journal Article in Journal of Intercultural Studies
Living in two countries: Transnational living as an alternative to migration
Journal Article in Population, Space and Place
New economics of transnational living
Journal Article in Population, Space and Place
Complementing theories: institutional ethnography and organisation theory in institutional analysis
Book Chapter in Institutional Ethnography in the Nordic Region
Who are the transnationals? Institutional categories beyond “migrants”
Journal Article in Ethnic and Racial Studies
Paying Taxes and Accessing Welfare across Borders
PRIO Policy Brief
The Morality of Transnational Social Security: When is it fair to export Norwegian social security benefits?
PRIO Policy Brief
Combining Transnational Living and National Welfare
PRIO Policy Brief
Reconciling transnational mobility and national social security: what say the welfare state bureaucrats?
Journal Article in Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies
Visualizing the transnational connections of China’s most African neighbourhood
Journal Article in Environment and Planning a
Transnational lives: the meanings and implications of living in two countries
Transnational Lives in the Welfare State: Presentation of Findings
Hva vet vi om innvandreres bånd til Norge og opprinnelseslandet?
