The Transnational Strand concentrates especially, but by no means exclusively, on Russian-, Arabic-, Spanish- and Chinese-speaking transnational communities. We explore:

(a) the consequences of the fact that, while language remains an unusually stable basis for identity-formation, it is becoming dislocated from sources of political power and cultural legitimacy;

(b) the effects of this on personal identities and networks, collective memories and ideologies, institutional structures and practices;

(c) the impact of the formation of transnational publics rooted in particular languages on contemporary statehood, nationhood, ethnicity, religious affiliation, and cultural practices; and

(d) the effect of evolving forms of mobility and connectivity on the formation of different types of transnational language-based communities.