ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with an analysis of inter-disciplinary perspectives on home, including the recognition of relationships between home and homeland, home and work and the emergence of critical geographies of home. It deals with some of the conceptual debates within migration and transnational studies and explores how the literature has theorised transnational homes and practices of home-making among diasporic communities. The chapter describes the importance of public urban spaces as sites of home and belonging, particularly for migrants with insecure or transient housing status. Relationships between the homely and the unhomely also relate to distinctions between public and private, the home and the world, both of which are disrupted by migration. Migration scholars have highlighted the impact of immigration status on access to housing, employment, mobility and the ability to create a sense of security and belonging. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
