Beyond Methodological Nationalism: Research Methodologies for Cross-border Studies

Cross-border studies have become attractive for a number of fields, including international migration, studies of material and cultural globalization, and history. While cross-border studies have expanded, the critique on nation-centered research lens has also grown. This book revisits drawbacks of methodological nationalism in theory and methodological strategies. It summarizes research methodologies of the current studies on transnationalization and globalization, such as multi-scalar and transnational approaches, global and multi-sited ethnography, as well as the entangled history approach and the incorporating comparison approach. This collected volume goes beyond rhetorical criticism on methodological nationalism, which is mainly associated with the ignorance and naturalization of national categories. It proffers insights for the systematic implementation of novel research strategies within empirical studies deployed by young and senior scholars. The novelty lies in an interdisciplinary lens ranging from sociology, social anthropology and history.

Anna Amelina is a researcher at the Faculty of Sociology at Bielefeld University.

Devrimsel D. Nergiz is a Doctoral Fellow at Bielefeld Graduate School in History and Sociology (BGHS).

Thomas Faist is Professor of Transnational Relations and Sociology of Development at the Department of Sociology, Bielefeld University.

Nina Glick Schiller is the Director of the Cosmopolitan Cultures Institute and Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Manchester.