ABSTRACT
We acknowledge that structural frames influence interpersonal transnational exchange on a micro-level. However, this chapter focuses primarily on the transnational practices of Bosnians on the micro-level of interpersonal personal engagements that usually are associated with so-called “transnationalism from below” (Smith and Guarnizo 1998). Researchers associate transnationalism from below with “dimensions of everyday life transnationalism” (Vertovec 2009: 61), or with what Jørgen Carling calls the “human dynamics of transnational relations” (Carling 2008). Drawing upon previous research (Levitt 2001, Levitt et al. 2003, Carling 2008), we focus on the human dynamics of transnational ties in order to illuminate what actually happens and what is actually exchanged between Bosnians who are engaged in transnational relations. The analytical frame we have chosen for our exploration is largely inspired by Carling’s study on transnational relations between migrants and non-migrants from Cape Verde (Carling 2008), and Blau’s study on Exchange and Power in Social Life (1967).
