Transnationalism as communicative action
Résumé
I have adapted Habermas’ theory for the study of a distinctive form of social group: those who share their lives between several countries. The second part of this chapter unfolds a structure agency approach I forged for this purpose. The theory of communicative action provides the possibility to think of these transnational engagements as a communicative behaviour through which actors express and give meaning to the multiplicity of their social embedding. This theory is associated with three other conceptual packages: Heidegger’s Dasein (Heidegger, 2008); a conception of social actors as a bundle of identities (Lahire, 1998) and associated roles (Mead, 1967); a concept of social institutions structuring the deliberative process that makes communicative action possible. In the third part, methodological and analytical implications of these theoretical considerations will be presented. The conclusion comes back to Habermas’ theory and shows how its operationalisation challenges or expands the tenets of this theory in new directions. But before addressing the different aspects of my use of Habermas, I will explain why I found his approach more appropriate than the usual ‘champions’ in this category, namely Giddens’ structuration theory and Bourdieu’s theory of practice.