Transnational social fields of Italian Bangladeshis in Europe and beyond: Towards a new geography of ways of belonging

Abstract

In view of the growing onward migration and multisited transnationalism among naturalized EU citizens, this article seeks to advance the current understanding of transnational social fields, cataloguing the complex interplays of migrants' ways of being, belonging, and in-betweenness across different places and spaces. Drawing on multisited qualitative research with Italian Bangladeshis in Italy and the United Kingdom, the paper presents how their ‘ways of being’ are expressed by maintaining transnational attachments to the country of origin and the wider Bangladeshi diaspora. In addition, they maintain transnational ‘ways of belonging’ by incorporating the Bengali language, culture, traditions, and values, and transmitting them to the next generation. Beyond these multiplicities of being and belonging, the findings put forward two important, yet contrasting, observations. On the one hand, there is an ongoing pursuit of onward migration to the UK among a section of the community—often influenced by social networks and transnational connections with the recognised Bangladeshi diaspora in the UK. Apart from being in the ‘community comfort zone’ and language advantage in the integration process, many migrants perceive living in the UK as having a higher ‘prestige’, ‘class’ or ‘status’ vis-a-vis Italy in terms of life quality, wealth, cultural, and religious freedom. On the other hand, another cohort is emotionally and culturally embedded in Italian societies and is in a dilemma of whether to migrate onward. In this process, they constantly blend, shift, and negotiate their ways of belonging. The findings unfold how a new geography of belonging takes shape, characterised by fluidities, multifaceted identities, and everyday life practices in a transnational space.