Documenting Transnational Migration : : Jordanian Men Working and Studying in Europe, Asia and North America / / Richard T. Antoun.

• VerfasserIn: Antoun, Richard T.,
• Place / Publishing House: New York; , Oxford : : Berghahn Books, , [2005]; ©2005
• Year of Publication: 2005
• Language: English
• Series: New Directions in Anthropology ; 25
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (338 p.)

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.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- Key to Transliteration of Arabic Letters and Symbols -- Tables, Chart, Map, Diagram -- Preface -- Introduction: Transnational Migration, the Themes Pursued in its Analysis, and the Jordanian Background of the Case Study -- 1. The Army as an Extension of Society and a Vehicle for Multicultural Exposure and Attitudinal Change -- 2. The Jordanian Diaspora in Arabia: Instrumental Circulatory Migration, Cultural Diversity, and Ethnic Stratification -- 3. Two Sojourners Abroad: Migration for Higher Education to England and Germany -- 4. Migrants to Greece: Living in the World, Integration, and Maintaining Ethnic Identity -- 5. The Quest for Education in Pakistan: The Variety of Experience in a Global Society -- 6. Longer Stay, Faster Change, Ruder Shock: Migrants to the United States, Coping with Mobility, Reinterpreting Tradition, and Evolving Identities -- 7. Fathers, Sons, Brothers, and the Village Community: Affirmation of the Moral Society in the Shadow of its Decline -- 8. Comparisons and Reflections on the Global Society -- BIBLIOGRAPHY -- INDEX