Transnational

The world is increasingly interconnected; an event in a distant place affects those in another. The term transnational refers to both the morphology and optic of these cross-border flows of people, capital, information, and commodities. Though the term transnational seems to presume the nation-state as a coherent entity, a transnational perspective does not naturalize the nation as a primary social and political unit in the modern world. Instead, a transnational optic considers the historical contingency of borders and social fields. Religious institutions are some of the earliest transnational formations, thriving across a great expanse before there were nation-states to traverse. Among religious scholars, the term transnational religion most often refers to the beliefs, practices, and organizations of transmigrant communities, but it also characterizes religious activist ...