Description
Book Synopsis Most studies on transnational migration either stress assimilation, circulatory migration, or the negative impact of migration. This remarkable study, which covers migrants from one Jordanian village to 17 different countries in Europe, Asia, and North America, emphasizes the resiliency of transnational migrants after long periods of absence, social encapsulation, and stress, and their ability to construct social networks and reinterpret traditions in such a way as to mix the old and the new in a scenario that incorporates both worlds. Focusing on the humanistic aspects of the migration experience, this book examines questions such as birth control, women’s work, retention of tribal law, and the changing attitudes of migrants towards themselves, their families, their home communities, and their nation. It ends with placing transnational migration from Jordan in a cross-cultural perspective by comparing it with similar processes elsewhere, and critically reviews a number of theoretical perspectives that have been used to explain migration.
Trade Review “This book provides very rich material on long-term experiences of Arab migrants abroad and contributes to the literature on migration and Arab disasporas.” • Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute (JRAI)
Table of Contents Introduction: Transnational Migration, the Themes Pursued in its Analysis, and the Jordanian Background of the Case Study
Chapter 1. The Army as an Extension of Society and a Vehicle for Multicultural Exposure and Attitudinal Change
Chapter 2. The Jordanian Diaspora in Arabia: Instrumental Circulatory Migration, Cultural Diversity, and Ethnic Stratification
Chapter 3. Two Sojourners Abroad: Migration for Higher Education to England and Germany
Chapter 4. Migrants to Greece: Living in the World, Integration, and Maintaining Ethnic Identity
Chapter 5. The Quest for Education in Pakistan: The Variety of Experience in a Global Society
Chapter 6. Longer Stay, Faster Change, Ruder Shock: Migrants to the United States, Coping with Mobility, Reinterpreting Tradition, and Evolving Identities
Chapter 7. Fathers, Sons, Brothers, and the Village Community: Affirmation of the Moral Society in the Shadow of its Decline
Chapter 8. Comparisons and Reflections on the Global Society
Bibliography
Index
