Do the current changes of both geographical and symbolic boundaries lead to the emergence of a world society? How do transnational migration, communication and worldwide economic and political networks manifest themselves in globalised modernity? This book presents innovative contributions to transnationalisation research and world society theory based on empirical studies from Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe. Practicable methodologies complete theoretical inquiries and provide examples of applied research, which also might be used in teaching.

Remus Gabriel Anghel (MA) is a PhD student at the faculty of Sociology, University of Bielefeld. Currently he is employed at the Romanian Institute for Minority Studies, Cluj. His research interests are migration and transnationalism. Eva Gerharz (Dr. phil.) teaches social anthropology and development sociology at the Transnationalisation and Development Research Centre, University of Bielefeld. Her fields of research include globalization, transnationalisation, ethnicity, and development. Gilberto Rescher (Dr. phil.) is sociologist and coordinator of the Latin American Studies program at the University of Hamburg and has been teaching at the Ruhr-University Bochum and the University of Bielefeld. His research interests include local politics, development, migration, transnationality/translocality, indigenous/ethnic groups, gender and qualitative methodology and he did intensive ethnographic research in Mexico, Nicaragua and the Philippines. Monika Salzbrunn (Prof. Dr. rer. soc./Docteure en anthropologie sociale et ethnologie) is professor of religion, migration, diaspora at the University of Lausanne and director of the Institut de Sciences Sociales des Religions Contemporaines (ISSRC).