Transnational social positioning through a family lens: How cross-border family relations shape subjective social positions in migration contexts

Abstract

This article examines transnational social positioning through a family lens. Based on interviews with people who moved to Germany as young adults, we show that socialization and expectations in families coin individual understandings of success as an important baseline for social positioning, while migration challenges these understandings and social position evaluations in complex ways. With a specific focus on evolving processes of social comparison, we look at the role of the family in shaping three forms of transnational social position: (i) transnational status paradox, (ii) attached transnational social positions, and (iii) detached transnational social positions. By demonstrating the various ways in which family relationships affect social positioning in migration contexts, this study contributes to discussions on the links between migration and perceptions of social position, and to our understanding of transnational social structures.