Between ‘class project’ and individualization

The stratification of Europeans’ transnational activities

Bibliographic Data

ID7991092
AuthorsJan Delhey (0000-0002-0475-8578, Otto-von-Guericke-Universität Magdeburg), E Deutschmann (0000-0002-6460-6947, Constructor University), Katharina Cirlanaru (Constructor University)
Year2015
Volume30
Issue3
Pages269-293
Publication date2015-04-23
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Sociology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0268-5809 • E-ISSN: 1461-7242
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/0268580915578744
OpenAlexW2121562063
LanguageEN
Citations received25
References cited59

In sociological transnationalization research, it is conventional wisdom that the upper strata are more involved in cross-border activities than the lower ones. However, proponents of the individualization/death-of-class thesis have argued that the significance of class (and of inequalities in general) for people’s actions is declining in affluent societies. Using these theories as a point of departure, this article investigates the influence of class and inequalities, more generally, on transnational activity. Using Eurobarometer 73.3 data from 27 European countries, this article examines (a) the extent to which class determines, by itself, in conjunction with other inequalities, and relative to heterogeneities, transnational practices within countries; and (b) how much the social gradient of transnational activity produced by class and inequalities varies across countries, and whether socioeconomic development tends to decrease or increase this gradient. The findings show that, in most countries, heterogeneities explain more variance in transnational activity than class, but not more variance than inequalities as more generally conceived. Further, social gradients in transnational activity are systematically larger in more affluent European countries

Class (philosophy · Demographic economics · Economic geography · Economics · Epistemology · Eurobarometer · European union · Geography · Inequality · Political science · Population · Social class · Social inequality · Social mobility · Social science · Social stratification · Socioeconomic status · Sociology · Stratification (seeds · Variance (accounting · Demography · Mathematics · Migration, Ethnicity, and Economy · Social and Cultural Dynamics · Social Capital and Networks