With the ongoing globalization as well as the widespread of cheaper and more advanced traveling and communicational technologies (such as cheaper air tickets and cell phones), it is inevitable that the mobility of people from a country to another has been greatly enhanced. As a result, more and more people could move overseas to pursue the lives they wanted by leaving the place they originally come from – that is when, transnational communities are formed. According to sociology scholar Sergio Chavez definition of transnational communities in “Boarder Lives, Fronterizos, Transnational Migrants, and Commuters in Tijuana” (2016), they are: “communities, that is, whose member leaves their homes and settle in another country but nevertheless maintain important connections with those original homes.”
The forming of transnational communities were harder in the past since those who wanted to leave a place may be unwilling to give up connections they had in the place so they turned out staying in the place they originally from or for those who left a place they lost most connections to people they knew due to the lack of cheap and convenient communication platform at the time. For example, international mailing took days for mails to travel from country to country. These constraints now would no longer be a problem with the rise of social medias and popularization of messaging applications.
As a person from Hong Kong, I can definitely feel how easy it is today to form transnational communities. Hong Kong has been known as a very small city with a highly dense population – over seven million people live in the city! There had been various waves of emigration especially in 1997 when Hong Kong was decolonized from the British Empire and transferred to China and since 2019 which the Anti-Extraditon Law Amendment Bill (Anti-ELAB) Movement broke out. Many Hongkongers could have little faith in Hong Kong’s future under China with her ambition to gain greater-than-ever control over Hong Kong in every aspects and would see living elsewhere more prosperous and just, livable, than staying in Hong Kong.
(Roughly Around one million of protestors in black protesting peacefully on June 16th, 2019)
Here is an interesting example that involves myself. As students, approaching the end of high school life, students face a question: to continue study here or overseas? For my best friends and I, three out of four chose to receive higher education in foreign countries (The UK and Canada). But guess what, despite the all differences geographically and differences in time zones(GMT+8, GMT+1, GMT-7), we still chat very often using applications like Skype or Whatsapp, we still pay attention to things happening back home. I believe, unintentionally, we are forming a transnational community.
(Photo of me and my friends at Hong Kong International Airport)
My experience shows how easy to form transnational communities – having a significant of people in a community to live in foreign countries and having ways for them to connect back to where they come from, boom! Here goes a transnational communities.
I believe transnational communities will be easier to be achieved in the future. With more and more opportunities globally, transnational communities could also be formed when people work or study overseas. We, may already be a part of a translational community without knowing.
P.S. The topic of this blog is inspired by one of the slides on Wednesday’s Pre-recorded lecture. This is a personal topic to me and I got emotional while writing the blog so it could be more subjective than it should be.
Hi, Gordon! I really like the topic of “transnational communities” you’ve chosen! As I am also from Hong Kong, I absolutely can relate to the content and agree that the recent mass migration wave is indeed forming new transnational communities. Similar to your experience, my high school back in Hong Kong also hit a record-high number of students studying abroad, mostly going to the UK, followed by Canada, Australia, and Germany. I agree that the advancement of technology and the advent of the Internet, are certainly letting the formation of transnational communities a lot easier and more effortless. I also keep in touch with some of my best friends (who study abroad but not in Canada) via social platforms, like IG video chat, which might unconsciously forming transnational communities – as what you’ve mentioned in the blog.
— Bertie
Hi Gordon! I like your discussion of how modern technology makes it much easier for transnational communities to function. It’s definitely much easier to stay in touch nowadays despite being separated by vast amounts of geographical space, and COVID-19 shutting down travel has only made more apparent the role of technology in connecting people. Personally speaking, my mother definitely maintains a connection to her side of the family in China through call, text, and mail — modern technology and systems mean that she can maintain those relationships even when unable to visit in person. I suspect the same is true of many other people who have immigrated to Canada from places around the world.
Hi Gordon! I loved seeing the photograph of you and your friends: what a great image of a “transnational community” as you set off from one place to different places. I’d recommend tracking down the Chavez source itself if you haven’t done so already. You’ll find it in the UBC library.