Faith-Based Transnationalism: Conceptualizing the Role of Religion in Transnational Families

This research brief introduces the concept of “faith-based transnationalism,” or the cross-border travels of religious practices, beliefs, identities, and moralities that not only connect migrants and their left-behind families but also lead to the reconstitution of relationships, spirituality, and landscapes. Faith-based transnationalism is an important analytical framework in the study of the intersections of geographies of religion/faith and transnational migration. This is crucial in contemporary times given the unabated and continuing flows of migrants across international borders, with implications on reshaping identities, consocialities, and places.