This paper provides an overview of current research and future trends on transnational migration. Most scholars now recognize that many contemporary migrants and their predecessors maintain various kinds of ties to their homelands at the same time that they are incorporated into the countries that receive them. Transnational migration studies has emerged as an inherently interdisciplinary field. In this review, the authors provide a short history of theoretical developments, outlining the different ways in which scholars have defined and approached transnational migration. They also summarize what is known about migrant transnationalism in different arenas—economics, politics, the social, the cultural, and the religious. Finally, we discuss methodological implications for the study of international migration, present promising new scholarship, and highlight future research directions.

Reprinted, with permission, from the Annual Review of Sociology, Volume 33, ©2007 by Annual Reviews, www.annualreviews.org.