The Association of Asian Social Science Research Councils (AASSREC)

19th Biennial General Conference
Manado, Indonesia, 17-19 October 2011

Evolving Transnationalism: Challenges and Opportunities (A Social Science Perspective)

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Submission of papers - guidelines.

Introduction

Driven largely by economic interests, transnationalism, i.e. the movement of people, their ideas, products and cultures is no recent phenomenon, Explorers and adventurers, migrants and refugees, ancient plunderers and modern moguls among others have forever left homelands in search of something additional, or something better. An atlas of world history gives us rich and multicoloured pictorial textures to indicate the sweeping trends from earliest human colonizations to unpeopled continents to the immensely complex socio-political changes of recent centuries, often as not accompanied by wars. But the pattern is changing. Massive "top-down" incursions of one state into another’s lands may be giving way to demands of patron states seeking, and paying for, foreign labor to support its burgeoning industries, inspiring “bottom-up”economic migration.

Today, transnationalism is a strategic issue for governments, and a rich source of research for social scientists. The world is increasingly “flattened” with each country facing similar problems and parallel needs. Indeed, the world is now often described as "borderless", characterized by rapid and continuous transnational flows of people, ideas, goods, and capital. Arjun Appadurai (1996: 33), while critizing the “borderless” assumption, puts forward important concepts of ethnoscapes, ideoscapes, technoscapes, mediascapes, and financescapes to describe the spatial contexts that have enabled transnationalism to flourish. Over the last five years in Asia, transnationalism has emerged as a strategic issue along with the increasing spread of people, and all they carry with them, giving rise to new political and knowledge networks in Asia. The social sciences are well poised to understand the impacts on national institutions, and the consequences for societies and individuals. The social sciences can help to understand the evolving trends in how transnationalism serves those most engaged in it, and what the future may hold.

Steven Vertovec (2001: 551) notes that perspectives on transnationalism come from as diverse fields as anthropology, sociology, political science, and geography. In so doing, the analysis of transnational process and the formulation of strategic policies need to take into account the multiple dimension of these transnational processes. Citing from Steven Vertovec,¹ Kivisto illustrates the linkages and overlaps in the terminology of transnationalism:

(1) as a social morphology focused on a new border spanning social formation; (2) as diasporic consciousness; (3) as a mode of cultural reproduction variously identified as syncretism, creaolization, bricolage, cultural translation, and hybridity; (4) as an avenue of capital for transnational corporations {TNCs}, and in a smaller but significant way in the form of remittances sent by immigrants to family and friends in their homelands; (5) as a site of political engagement, both in terms of homeland politics and the politics of homeland government vis-avis their émigré communities, and in terms of the expanded role of international non-governmental organizations {NGOs}; and (6) as a reconfiguration of the notion of place from an emphasis on the local to the translocal. (Kivisto, 2001:550).

In relation to the movement of goods and ideas, transnationalism covers many issues such as transnational crime, terrorism, drug and weapon smuggling, the dissemination of counterfeit goods, and so forth. The movement of ideas can also bring about positive changes in the homeland, for example what is known as ‘brain circulation’, opportunities for economic and political migrants, and increased understanding of the globalizing world.

Glick Schiller et al² approach transnationalism from a theoretical and historical perspective in talking about people movements. Historically, they argue that there are significant differences between contemporary immigration and that of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In earlier immigration, the relationship between immigrants and their homeland was broken and they were uprooted, whereas today, immigration, network, activities, and pattern of lifes retain close ties to home countries as well as host countries. Like modernity, migrant identity is multiple and fluid (Kivisto, 2001:554). While transnational migration, for instance, has a long history, today it is clear that this migration has resulted in different patterns of movement and expression and that it has become more complicated than ever before. According to Kivisto (2001), there are certain different patterns evident in history from the late international migration period to that of contemporary transnational migration. Kivisto (2001: 550) reports that today the formation of mixed ethnic groups due to the international movement of labour to many developing and developed countries is on the rise. The direction of this migration is usually from developing to developed countries, but also occurs many other guises. Previously, concepts applied to explain immigration and ethnicity focused on assimilation and cultural pluralism, in contrast to the explanation of contemporary movements, which employ the concepts of multiculturalism and globalisation, though with some limitations (Kivisto, 2001: 550).

The concept of transnationalism includes a wide array of potential topics for discussion, from transnational migration, to human trafficking, diasporas, intermarriage, transnational crime, terrorism, drug and weapon smuggling, labor cycles, educational opportunities, brain circulation, refugees and so forth. It is in relation to such issues that this conference will develop a better understanding of transnationalism in our region and consider how the social sciences can contribute to ethical, moral and effective changes to the patterns of transnationalism in the Asia-Pacific region.

The Strategic Questions

Having the important topic of “Evolving Transnationalism: Challenges and Opportunities (A Social Science Perspective)”, we must identify some pertinent questions that should be addressed in this general conference. These are:

• How can we characterize the trajectories of evolving transnationalism in our region? What are the important dimensions and who is most affected, both for good and for bad?
• What of theories and concepts that have been used by Asian scholars in analyzing the transnational movement of people, goods, and ideas?
• What are the similarities and differences in problems encountered by each country in our region?
• What should be the goals of political institutions in assisting transnationalism to the benefit of nations and individuals?
• Is transnationalism both the driver and the lasting consequence of globalisation?

The Objectives of the General Conference

It is both timely and appropriate to look at challenges and opportunities of evolving transnationalism in Asia by focusing on understanding existing interpretations and creating alternative concepts, exploring theories drawing from on-the-ground country experiences, and determining the most pertinent issues faced by each countrin our region.. AASSREC, in collaboration with LIPI and AIPI, will host the 19 Biennial Conference on “Evolving Transnationalism: Challenges and Opportunities (A Social Science Perspective)”. There are four immediate aims of the conference:

1. To seek a common understanding of transnational issues across different countries as well as among different fields of social scientists and policy makers.
2. To exchange experiences and knowledge about the challenges and opportunities of transnationalism from a social science perspective, especially with regard to the Asia Pacific.
3. To promote international networking and to establish an understanding of similarities and differences in the direction of transnationalism in the Asia Pacific regions.
4. To provide knowledge and policy-relevant advice in dealing with the many and complex contemporary issues of transnationalism.

Participants

AASSREC anticipates approximately 150 participants at the Conference, including participant’s representatives from AASSREC member associations in Australia, Bangladesh, China, Indonesia, India, Iran, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Peoples Republic of North Korea, Philippines, Sri Lanka, South Korea, Thailand, and Vietnam. The remainder will be social scientists and bureaucrats from throughout Indonesia, but especially from Jakarta and Manado.

List of speakers:

Keynote Speakers

1. Prof. Arjun Appadurai (New School for Social Research, New York)-(to be confirmed)
2. Dr. Sinjo Sarundayang, S.H

Guest Lecturers

1. Prof Dr Dewi Fortuna Anwar

Association Representatives

1. Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia (ASSA)
2. Social Science Research Council of Bangladesh (SSRCB)
3. Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS)
4. Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR)
5. Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI)
6. Iranian Sociology Association
7. Science Council of Japan (SCJ)
8. Royal Society New Zealand (RSNZ)
9. Malaysian Social Science Association (MSSA)
10. The National Research Council of Thailand (NRCT)
11. The Philippines Social Science Council (PSSC)
12. Korean Social Science Research Council (KOSSREC)
13. Korean Association of Social Scientists (KASS)
14. National Science Foundation of Sri Lanka (NSFSL)
15. National Research Council of Thailand (NRCT)
16. Vietnamese Academy of Social Sciences (VASS)

Schedule:

The AASSREC General Conference on "Evolving Transnationalism: Challenges and Opportunities (A Social Science Perspective)" will be held on 17-19 October 2011 in Manado, North Sulawesi, Indonesia.

Reference

• Appadurai, Arjun. 1996. Modernity at Large: Cultural Dimensions of Globalization. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
• Kivisto, Peter. 2001. "Theorizing transnational immigration: a critical review of current efforts". Ethnic and Racial Studies Vol. 24. No. 4. July 2001. pp. 549-577.
• Patterson, Rubin. 2006. "Transnationalism: Diaspora-Homeland Development". Social

Footnotes

1. Vertovec, Steven, (1999) 'Conceiving and researching transnationalism', Ethnic and Racial Studies, Vol 22, no 2, pp 447-62.
2. Glick Schiller, Nina, Basch, Linda and Szanton Blanc, Christina, 1922 'Transnationalism: a new analytic framework for understanding migration', pp. 1-24 in Glick Schiller, Nina, Basch, Linda, and Szanton Blanc, Christina (eds), Towards a Transnational Perspective on Migration: Race, Class, Ethnicity, and Nationalism Reconsidered, New York: New York Academy of Sciences.