ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with a lengthy discussion of key frameworks and constructs relevant to the topic of migration, transnationalism, and social class in applied linguistics. It discusses the state of research which focuses on migration, identity and language (MIL) from a political economic perspective which includes social class as a key construct. The chapter attempts to develop in more detail Jim Collins's critique of the lack of class in most MIL research. Migration research has, tended to marginalise issues such as 'the differences and tensions between co-ethnic employers and migrant workers in terms of value system, resource access, social behaviours and uneven distribution of income and profits. Migrants themselves will be understood in terms of race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, sexuality, religion, and other dimensions, as well as varieties of intersectional combinations of these dimensions.
