ABSTRACT
A transnational lens tries to take all layers of social experience into account–including the global and the local and all else in between–and to hold them in conversation with each other. The Catholic Church is not the only religious group that is constituted, formally or informally, across borders. Like their secular counterparts, these groups may act transnationally and have a transnational effect or they may act transnationally while their impact registers in a single direction. Research on hometown associations and development, on transnational labour unionizing efforts, and on transnational families and care chains would be more productive, if they were seen as part and parcel of a larger discussion about transnational social protection. The strength of the labour market in each locale will also be different such that varying numbers and types of employers will be more or less amenable to hiring undocumented workers and to offering them benefits.
