It’s not often I go to a conference and come away with interesting revelations about myself and the world around me. But one last week was different. I came out not only with lots of food for thought, but also a brand new label for myself and other folks like me. In recent years I’ve described myself many ways — as an immigrant, a Canadian of Indian descent, an Indo-Canadian, a South Asian, a Sikh. But never a transnational. In fact, I didn’t even know the word until a few weeks back when I was invited to be a discussant in one of the sessions at the fifth annual International Metropolis Conference, held in Vancouver Nov. 13-17. The discussion I was involved in explored the concept of transnational communities and their implications for citizenship in different countries. Once I decoded the academic language, the simplest way I could understand the term transnational was that it recognizes the reality of people who have links with both the places they live in now and the places they’ve come from. In other words, it defines folks like me and our connections to our roots. For example, no matter how hard I might try, I’d never be able to either deny or wipe out the fact that for the first 23 years of my life I belonged in another country where I had attachments to those people and their issues. But I also exult in the fact that I am now a Canadian and have my love and commitment for this country. While my attachment to Canada grows each day, my interest in my country of birth is kept alive by flying back and forth, as well as the telephone lines and the Internet. Also, because my ethnic community is large in numbers here, I have access to ethnic groceries, music, clothing and plenty of imported entertainment and information through ethnic media. This is, of course, not all new stuff. People have maintained networks across borders in all sorts of ways, including familial, cultural, political and economic ties, for centuries. Most English people, wherever they are in the world, are interested in what happens in Great Britain. Serb-Canadians or Arab-Canadians not only identify with issues in their former countries, but they also try and influence politicians here to take positions on issues impacting their kin abroad. Many people send money and goods back to families in their countries of origin, which has an impact on the economies of those regions. Many group identities span across many nations. You can find a Chinatown and a Sikh temple in most major cities of the world. In the arranged marriage system, marriage partners are sought from pockets of the same ethnic group throughout the world. What interests me is how some of the native-born people in Canada believe immigrants have divided loyalties. I can’t count how many times I have heard people expressing resentment at the fact that people bring issues from their countries of origin to Canada and despair at why people have moved here if they couldn’t leave their baggage behind. On the one hand, I empathize when I think people genuinely believe they can freeze the country at a certain moment in history and insulate it from any further changes. On the other hand, I get exasperated that people don’t come to terms with the reality that, with each wave of immigration, it is not only the immigrant but the source and receiving countries that also change. Most industrialized countries are learning how best to acknowledge the transnational identities and interests of its people. Both Canada and Great Britain allow dual citizenship. I wish India would smarten up and follow suit fast. It would create advantages for both India and its emigrants. Trade missions to different countries are greatly assisted by the presence of transnationals in delegations. India has opened up opportunities for investment from non-resident Indians. All countries are struggling with laws around foreign assets and family reunification, for starters. I think transnationalism is becoming a way of life for many people and the challenge most countries face is in how to keep this recognition palatable for the native-born population, which might feel that a transnational identity undermines a sense of national identity within a country’s borders. As for me, I find the description almost emotionally liberating. Without question, my future generations will belong here more. But let me belong in both places without guilt.
