ABSTRACT
This special issue examines the changing nature of work and learning in the age of transnational migration. Fuelled by globalisation, the integration of the world economy and advanced transportation technologies has greatly enhanced the mobility of people across national boundaries. In 2013, the number of international migrants worldwide reached 232 million from 175 million in 2000 and 154 million in 1990 (United Nations 2013). As globalisation intensifies, unidirectional ‘migration to’ is now being replaced by ‘asynchronous, transversal, oscillating flows that involve visiting, studying, seasonal work, temporary contracts, tourism and sojourning’ (Cohen 2008, 123). In this view, migration has shifted from ‘inter-national’ to ‘transnational’ and ‘multiple, circular and return migrations, rather than a singular great journey from one sedentary space to another, occur across transnational spaces’ (Lie 1995, 304). As such, migrants are no longer expected to make a sharp and definitive break from their homelands.
