Transnational Lives in the Welfare State (TRANSWEL) (completed)

TRANSWEL is a research project that explores what it means to live in two countries, how individuals manage such a way of life, and how it affects interactions between individuals and state institutions.

Visit the project homepage.

Illustration: Vincent van der Pas

About the project

A growing number of people live partly in one country and partly in another, for instance splitting work and leisure between two countries, spending part of the year in each, or living mainly in a country other than the one that provides social security. We call such lives 'transnational lives'. Some people are able to spend a lot of time in each country every year. Others are limited by work or children's school, for instance, but invest time and resources in both countries.

We are interested in transnational living because it concerns what it means to be part of a society, and because it as an aspect of globalization. We believe that more knowledge can help develop better policies and help reduce unnecessary bureaucratic frustrations. It is also essential for the welfare state to find ways of accommodating the fact that many people live partly within it and partly outside it.

Visit the project's homepage to see the latest publications and activities.

Objectives

The work is guided by the following objectives:

Document the experiences, joys, and frustrations, of living partly in one country and partly in another.
Find out who wants to live in two countries, as opposed to settling completely in one.
Examine how people who live in two countries experience the encounter with state institutions in each country.
Examine how state institutions in the Netherlands and Norway engage with people who lead transnational lives.
Explore how the welfare state can approach the benefits and challenges of transnational living.

Background

The project is carried out by researchers in Norway and the Netherlands. Research within the project will explore transnational lives that are lived partly in one of these two countries and partly in another country.

Partners

Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO)
Department of Sociology, Erasmus University Rotterdam

Funding scheme

The total grant award was for NOK 12 000 000.

Project period

October 2014 - July 2019

Erdal, Marta Bivand (2021). Migrants’ Multifocal Sedentarism: Ambivalent Belonging and Desired Recognition in Transnational Social Fields Connecting Pakistan and Norway. Journal of Intercultural Studies. ISSN 0725-6868. doi: 10.1080/07256868.2021.1971167.
Carling, Jørgen; Erdal, Marta Bivand & Talleraas, Cathrine (2021). Living in two countries: Transnational living as an alternative to migration. Population, Space and Place. ISSN 1544-8444. 27(5).
Erdal, Marta Bivand & Carling, Jørgen (2020). New economics of transnational living. Population, Space and Place. ISSN 1544-8444. doi: 10.1002/psp.2410. Show summary
This article unpacks what constitutes the economics of transnational living. We situate this concept among literatures on economic transnationalism, transnational livelihoods, and transnational social protection but argue that it merits a new conceptual foundation. The first part of this foundation is the definition of “transnational living” as sustained and similarly significant attachments, interactions, and presences in two or more societies separated by national borders. The other half is “the economics of” transnational living, which we understand as the economic choices and relationships that motivate, condition, or result from such a way of life. We combine the conceptual development with empirical analysis of interviews with a diverse set of people who lead transnational lives within Europe or between Europe and other parts of the world. In this material, the economics of transnational living is constituted by six overlapping spheres: livelihoods, housing, mobility, social protection, legal matters, and brokerage.
Talleraas, Cathrine (2019). Who are the transnationals? Institutional categories beyond “migrants”. Ethnic and Racial Studies. ISSN 0141-9870. p. 1–20. doi: 10.1080/01419870.2019.1599133.
Talleraas, Cathrine (2019). Complementing theories: institutional ethnography and organisation theory in institutional analysis. In Lund, Rebecca & Nilsen, Ann Cristin (Ed.), Institutional Ethnography in the Nordic Region. Routledge. ISSN 9780367030353. p. 51–64. doi: 10.4324/9780429019999-4.
Carling, Jørgen (2017). Visualizing the transnational connections of China?s most African neighbourhood. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space. ISSN 0308-518X. 49(6), p. 1209–1213. doi: 10.1177/0308518X17690392.
Talleraas, Cathrine (2017). Reconciling transnational mobility and national social security: what say the welfare state bureaucrats? Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies. ISSN 1369-183X. 45(1), p. 151–169. doi: 10.1080/1369183X.2017.1408461. Show summary
The welfare state was constructed to ensure the well-being of a sedentary population, consisting of citizens living within the territorial boundaries of the nation. However, mobility patterns change, and more people lead lives that criss-cross national borders while drawing on different sources of transnational social protection – the welfare state included. Now, the daily work of bureaucrats involves delivering national social security benefits to transnationally mobile recipients. Through encounters and casework processes, these welfare state bureaucrats observe how ‘transnationals’ deal with complex regulations and make use of the social security system. This article explores bureaucrats’ perceptions of individuals’ agency and behaviour as they reconcile their transnational mobility with national social security. It builds on data collected during ethnographic fieldwork in the Norwegian welfare administration, including 36 interviews, participant observation and informal conversations. The analysis identifies an institutional perspective of transnationals’ agency as shaped by their level of regulatory awareness and compliance. The bureaucrats observe some types of transnational behaviour to be more prevalent than others. As the article concludes, these bureaucratic perspectives have major implications for transnational social security delivery and how the welfare state accommodates transnational mobility.

View all works in Cristin

Talleraas, Cathrine & Korzeniewska, Lubomiła (2018). The Morality of Transnational Social Security: When is it fair to export Norwegian social security benefits? Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO). ISSN 978-82-7288-903-5. 2018(6).
Talleraas, Cathrine (2018). Combining Transnational Living and National Welfare. Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO). ISSN 978-82-7288-842-7. 2018(1).
Korzeniewska, Lubomiła (2018). Paying Taxes and Accessing Welfare across Borders. Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO). ISSN 978-82-7288-925-7. 2018(11).