Conference Agenda

The paper aims to contribute to the literature that is invested in understanding the relationship between migrant transnationalism and integration in the host country. While the paradigm of transnationalism has been dominant in the field of migration studies and thus the coexistence of migrant integration and transnationalism is not vehemently contested anymore, the nuanced understanding of the relationship between these two social phenomena is still not entirely clear to researchers. We carried out an analysis based on an online survey which had targeted Hungarian migrants. The focus of our analysis were the sociocultural aspects of transnational connections and host country integration among Hungarian emigrants. In addition, we also investigated the plans for returning home within the matrix of transnationalism and integration. Based on Carling and Pettersen (2014) we created an integration-transnationalism matrix to study the relationship between integration and transnationalism, and within this framework we examined the intention to return home. Our general conclusion, which corroborated Carling and Pettersen’s (2014) results, was that integration and transnationalism “neutralize” each other: strong integration and strong transnationalism, as well as weak integration and weak transnationalism, show similar ratios of return migration plans. At the same time, strong integration and weak transnationalism show the lowest, while weak integration and strong transnationalism show the highest occurrence of considering returning to the home country. The applied logistic regression model indicates that transnationalism increases while integration decreases the chances of planning to return. The paper also highlights certain spatial specificities of the integration–transnationalism matrix through the comparative description of the results from the top three destination countries of Hungarian migrants: Germany, Austria, and the UK.

Digitalisation, particularly the diffusion of affordable ICT, is linked with the growth of transnational migration, understood as sustained cross-border connections between migrants and their origin communities. However, despite the contemporary digital pedigree of transnationalism, there is limited understanding of digital inclusion among transnational migrants in destinations or transnational households in origins. Our presentation and analysis (based on a project supported by the Czech Science Foundation) is one of the first to analyse the relationship between digital inclusion and transnational migration. The main research question is: What accounts for the variation in digital inclusion of transnational Moldovan and Georgian migrants? We will analyse the level of digitisation of migrants in the process of their lived transnationalisation, its conditionalities and the wider context of a sample of 100 Moldovan and 100 Georgian immigrants residing in Czechia. The analysis will also include the situation of their households in Moldova and Georgia. The data from the unique questionnaire survey will be processed, among other tools, through regression analyses and structural modeling approach. The interpretation will be based on social practice theory.

The findings add new knowledge on digitalisation, digital divide, digital inclusion, and transnational migration, and carry important implications for social inclusion, national digital strategies and, more widely, for re-framing the Migration Development Nexus in the context of digitalisation.

Within place branding research, place loyalty is studied as an expression of positive engagement behavior by the residents. Place attachment, i.e. the affective, physical and cognitive bonding with place, and its subdimension place identity are often studied as factors leading to residents’ loyalty to a place. Such studies are mainly quantitative, focusing on the attachment to the place studied, and the residents are treated as a homogenous group. Yet in a mobile world where more and more people live outside of their place of origin, many develop simultaneous attachment to multiple places. In a current research project, we investigated the differences in place attachment of locals vs. migrants, and the differences in their types of attachment to the study location. We further studied the relation between types of place attachment and the interviewees’ behavior towards different places. In this paper, we investigate how multiple place attachment influences future mobility intentions and loyalty to the current place of residence.

We base our theoretical approach on typologies of place attachment, theories of place identity, and place behavior, specifically loyalty. For place attachment different typologies are used, i.e. Lewicka (2011)’s traditional/inherited place attachment, active attachment, alienation, place relativity, and placelessness, Gieling et al. (2017)’s traditionally attached, socially attached, footloose, and reluctantly attached types, and Di Masso et al. (2019)’s fixity and flow scale. We further analyze the subdimension of place identity, and the participants’ loyalty and mobility intention statements according to their place identity and attachments.

The data for the study were collected through in-depth interviews with diverse residents of Girona (Catalonia, Spain). The interviewees included residents born in Girona, residents who came from other parts of Catalonia and the rest of Spain, and residents who moved to Girona from abroad. The interviewees had diverse educational, employment, age, and travel experience and mobility backgrounds, although those who came from abroad were all voluntary migrants. The findings show a preference for long-term settlement and onwards migration, rather than return migration.

According to official statistics, Hungarians constitute one of the largest foreign-born groups in Austria, with approximately 100,000 individuals. Many fit the definition of transnational migrants, with family members dispersed across multiple countries, dual households maintained over extended periods, extensive cross-border networks, high spatial mobility, and active engagement with both their country of origin and destination. In addition, the number of Hungarian cross-border commuters in Austria also exceeds 60,000. Both groups share similar migration motivations, often driven by the prospect of better wages and a higher standard of living, frequently accepting jobs for which they are overqualified.

This analysis is unique as it combines primary data from two previous research projects, including narrative and cognitive interviews as well as two harmonized quantitative surveys (N = 714 in total). The paper will focus on the spatial mobility patterns and labour market characteristics of Hungarian transnational migrants and cross-border commuters. Particular attention will be given to overqualification and its effects on their life satisfaction, happiness, and eudaimonia, as well as its influence on their intentions to stay in or leave Austria.

Preliminary results indicate that while the material well-being of the target population improved after migration, they are less satisfied with their social relationships. Overqualification applies to approximately one-third of respondents in both samples, and those who are overqualified report significantly lower overall life satisfaction compared to those working in jobs that match their qualification levels. To explore the causal relationships, explanatory models will be employed, incorporating various objective and spatial factors.