Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book examines the multidisciplinarity and interdisciplinarity which it argues are crucial to productive research on migration and provides analysis of how such research can feed back into improving the lives of migrants in practice. It demonstrates that migration studies are evolving across a number of disciplines, some of which are more often seen than others. The book focuses on the challenging debates surrounding questions of definitions in the interdisciplinary area of study of International Migration, particularly focusing on the concepts of 'Transnationalism' and 'Diaspora'. It builds upon traditions in Political Theory and Empirical Political Sociology as well as Cultural Analysis in order to produce a normative theory built upon the real-life 'grievances and struggles of migrants and citizens'. The book provides a global situation in which migrants are finding new ways to incorporate themselves into urban life, economically, socially and culturally.