The ‘inner logic’ of transnational relations

This chapter is based on ethnographic research and open-ended, semi-structured interviews with locals in Novi Pazar, as well as questionnaires. Sustaining transnational relations with the emigre community thus seemed of vital importance. It is remarkable that the authors have three generations in this narrative, all three of whom experience divergent expectations regarding their place in society. Given the fact that a potential 6 to 7 out of every 10 persons have family members who moved to Turkey at any point in time serves as an abstract, though no less important, backbone for the inner logic of transnational relations. The Yugoslav Succession Wars thus served as a rupture, a discontinuity of belonging to the subsequent rump state, as emphasized by a range of interlocutors. As a consequence, locals invigorated transnational ties with the emigre community in Turkey. While interlocutors confirmed that Bosniaks mostly dealt in business while Serbs joined the army, however, all parties involved benefited from the trade.