The Transnationalization of Social Inequality: Conceptualizing Social Positions on a World Scale

The sociology of inequality has focused on the nation-state frame. The article argues that methodological nationalism is increasingly inadequate in a globalizing world. Migrant populations cannot be located in only one nation-state. Labour markets, cultural capital and reciprocal relations have become partly transnational. Both issues can be integrated into a theory of social inequality, if spatial relations are given adequate consideration. The opportunities of actors and the value of resources must be determined in relation to various national and transnational social spaces. Social positions in a world system cannot be characterized only by resource value. They are also structured by spatial autonomy and the quality of the spaces to which (migrant) populations have access. The argument is exemplified by a discussion of highly skilled migrants who possess cultural capital that is transnationally recognized. An analysis of their cultural capital shows how transnational and location-specific cultural capital interrelate.