ABSTRACT
This chapter explores how the transnational lives of expatriates, and the significance those boundaries have for them, relate to debates on migration and transnationalism and situate them in historical and gendered contexts. It examines the notion of transnational migration emerged, suggesting that in contrast to previous times, the movement of people is now characterised by the maintenance of multiple relations and affiliations across two or more countries. The chapter also explores that both the optimistic vision of transnationalism as liberating and subversive and its critiques have been formulated with the disenfranchised, non-privileged tier of movement in mind. Transnational practices are seen as 'counter-narratives of the nation' which continually evoke and erase their totalizing boundaries'. The fact that borders and boundaries continue to matter in a globalising world has been discussed extensively in relation to non-privileged groups. Their continuing relevance for these groups has been well-documented.
