Transnationalism, active citizenship, and belonging in Canada

International Journal

Volumn 63, Issue 1, 2007, Pages 79-99

  Wong, Lloyd L ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY   (Canada)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 45149119591     PISSN: 00207020     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/002070200806300106     Document Type: Review

References (47)

1. Thomas Faist, "Transnationalism in international migration: Implications for the study of citizenship and culture," Ethnic and Racial Studies 23, no. 2 (2000): 198.
2. Alejandro Portes, Luis Guarnizo, and Patricia Landolt, "The study of transnationalism: Pitfalls and promise of an emergent research field," Ethnic and Racial Studies 22, no. 2 (1999): 223.
3. Anthony Richmond, "Sociology of migration in industrial and post-industrial societies," in J. Jackson, ed., Migration: Sociological Studies 2 (London: Cambridge University Press, 1969), 238;
4. Immigration and Ethnic Conflict (London: Macmillan, 1988);
5. "Sociological theories of international migration: The case of refugees," Current Sociology 36, no. 2 (1988): 7;
6. Global Apartheid: Refugees, Racism, and the New World Order (Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1994).
7. Nina Glick Schiller, Linda Basch, and Christina Blanc-Szanton, Towards a Transnational Perspective on Migration (New York: The New York Academy of Sciences, 1992);
8. Basch, Schiller, and Blanc-Szanton, Nations Unbound: Transnational Projects, Postcolonial Predicaments, and Deterritorialized Nation-States (Langhorne, PA: Gordon and Breach Science Publishers, 1994).
9. Basch, Schiller, and Blanc-Szanton, Nations Unbound, Transnational Projects, 4.
10. Steven Vertovec, "Conceiving and researching transnationalism," Ethnic and Racial Studies 22, no. 2 (1999): 447-62.
11. Thomas Faist, The Volume and Dynamics of International Migration and Transnational Social Spaces (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2000).
12. Lloyd Wong and Vic Satzewich, "Introduction: The meaning and significance of transnationalism," in Satzewich and Wong, eds. Transnational Identities and Practices in Canada (Vancouver: UBC Press, 2006), 1.
13. For example, Walker Connor has a simple definition whereas William Safran, Robin Cohen, and Nicholas Van Hear have more complex definitions: Connor, "The impact of homelands upon diasporas," in Gabriel Sheffer, ed., Modern Diasporas in International Politics (London: Croon Helm 1986), 16;
14. Safran, "Diasporas in modern societies: Myths of homeland and return," Diaspora 1, no. 1 (1991): 83;
15. Robin Cohen, Global Diasporas (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1997): 26;
16. Van Hear, New Diasporas (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1998).
17. See Satzewich and Wong, Transnational Identities and Practices;
18. Luin Goldring and Sailaja Krishnamurti, eds., Organizing the Transnational (Vancouver: UBC Press, in press).
19. Alejandro Portes, William Haller, and Luis Eduardo Guarnizo, "Transnational entrepreneurs: An alternative form of immigrant economic adaptation," American Sociological Review 67, (April 2002): 278;
20. Daniel Heibert and David Ley, "Characteristics of immigrant transnationalism in Vancouver," in Satzewich and Wong, Transnational Identities and Practices in Canada, 71.
21. Gerard Delanty, "Models of citizenship: Defining European identity and citizenship," Citizenship Studies 1, no. 3 (1997): 285-303.
22. Marina Jimenez, "It's illegal for Canadians to fight against Canada: RCMP studying how law deals with dual-loyalty issues," National Post, 28 April 1999, A10.
23. Danielle Goldfarb, "Effective aid and beyond: How Canada can help poor countries," Conference Board of Canada's International Trade and Investment Centre, prepared for the Canadian Defence & Foreign Affairs Institute, December 2006.
24. Will Kymlicka and Wayne Norman, "Return of the citizen: A survey of recent work of citizenship theory," Ethics 104, no. 2 (1994): 352-81.
25. Yasemin Soysal, Limits of Citizenship: Migrants and Postnational Membership in Europe (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994).
26. Augie Fleras and Jean Elliott, Engaging Diversity: Multiculturalism in Canada (Toronto: Nelson Thomson Learning, 2002): 69.
27. Henry Milner, "Informed citizenship: Canada in a comparative context," Canadian Diversity 2, no. 1 (2003): 28-30;
28. Joanna Anneke Rummens, "Transcending diversity: Envisioning shared citizenship," Canadian Diversity 2, no. 1 (2003): 77-78;
29. Howard Duncan, "The public policy role of citizenship in a globalized world," Canadian Diversity 2, no. 1 (2003): 79-80;
30. Daniel Schugurensky, "Civic participation: On active citizenship, social capital and public policy," Canadian Diversity 2, no. 1 (2003): 10-12.
31. Jack Jedwab, "Representing identity: Non-formal political participation and the role of the state in Canada," Bringing worlds together, seminar proceedings, Ottawa, 22-24 March 2002, 73-94.
32. Jack Jedwab, "Citizenship and belonging to Canada: Dual citizens do not have weaker sense of belonging to Canada," Association for Canadian Studies, 2007, www.acs-aec.ca.
33. Jeffrey G. Reitz and Rupa Banerjee, "Racial inequality, social cohesion and policy issues in Canada," Institute for Research on Public Policy, 2007, www.irpp.org.
34. Reitz's and Banerjee's "Racial inequality" examined "sense of belonging," "volunteering," and "voted in federal election" as dependent variables. In contrast, this study examines "sense of belonging to Canada," "civic participation," and "political participation." It is interesting to note that Reitz and Banerjee found that racial minorities had a somewhat stronger sense of belonging than whites (19, 28); were slightly less likely to volunteer (19); and were less likely to vote in federal elections (19, 28). These results can be compared to those of transnational presented later in this article while acknowledging that "volunteering and civic participation" and "voted in federal election and political participation" are measured differently. Further, the findings of Reitz and Banerjee on perceived discrimination show comparability to the findings presented in this work.
35. Pauline Barber, "Citizenship and attachment across borders?" Canadian Diversity 2, no. 1 (2003): 45-46.
36. Howard Duncan, "The public policy role of citizenship in a globalized world," Canadian Diversity 2, no. 1 (2003): 79.
37. The initial data analyses for this study were conducted on the ethnic diversity survey public use microdata file and then bootstrapped utilizing the Analytical file at the research data centre at the University of Calgary.
38. Approximately 90 countries in the world allow dual citizenship. See Stanley Renshon, Dual Citizenship and American National Identity (Washington, DC: Center for Immigration Studies, 2001), 45.
39. Daniel Heibert and David Ley, "Characteristics of immigrant transnationalism in Vancouver," in Satzewich and Wong, Transnational Identities and Practices, 84;
40. Irene Bloemraad, "Who claims dual citizenship? The limits of postnationalism, the possibilities of transnationalism, and the persistence of traditional citizenship," International Migration Review 38, no. 2 (2004): 389-426;
41. Audrey Kobayashi, Valerie Preston, Myer Siemiatycki, "Citizenship and family decision-making: The paradox of the normal among Canada-Hong Kong transnationals";
42. and Dan Hiebert and David Ley, "Does transnationalism trump integration?" papers presented at the 12th international Metropolis conference, Melbourne, Australia, 8-12 October 2007;
43. Each of these variables were dichotomized for inclusion in the scale. Citizenship status was divided between those individuals holding single Canadian citizenship and those holding dual citizenship (Canada plus one or two other countries). Family in country of origin was divided between those with family members still living in the country of birth and those without. Travel back to country of origin was divided between those individuals who have made at least one return trip back and those who had not. The Cronbach's alpha for these three items was 82. The use of travel to measure transnationalism has been utilized in studies of transnational entrepreneurs. See Alejandro Portes, William Haller, and Luis Eduardo Gua rnizo, "Transnational entrepreneurs: An alternative form of immigrant economic adaptation," American Sociological Review 67, (April 2002): 284.
44. Dual citizens also include those who hold Canadian citizenship and one or two "other" countries as the ethnic diversity survey allowed respondents to identify up to three countries in which they hold citizenship. It must be remembered that the target population for this survey was persons aged 15 years or over living in Canada, thus the proportion of immigrants holding dual citizenship would be much higher.
45. An odds ratio = one would mean that the independent variable (i.e., transnationalism) has no effect on the dependent variable (i.e., civic participation). In other words, the likelihood of the dependent variable (i.e., civic participation, political participation, and sense of belonging) is equal between the groups, or categories, for the independent variables (i.e., transnationals and nontransnationals). An odds ratio of less than one means less likelihood and an odds ratio of greater than one means more likelihood.
46. For an example of the argument against dual citizenship, see Stanley Renshon, Dual Citizenship and American National Identity (Washington, DC: Centre for Immigration Studies, October 2001);
47. and for an example of the counterposition see Peter Spiro, "Embracing dual nationality," in Randall Hansen and Patrick Weil, eds., Dual Nationality, Social Rights and Federal Citizenship in the U.S. and Europe: The Reinvention of Citizenship (Oxford: Berghahn Books, 2002): 19-33.