4 Culture and Identity in Motion Free Online FlashCards

What does identity mean?

Identity is a person’s sense of who they are and the groups to which they feel connected.

What is transnationalism?

Transnationalism is the sustained social, cultural, economic, or political connections people maintain across national borders.

How can cultural practices change through migration?

They may be maintained, adapted, combined with other practices, or set aside. Migration does not produce just one pattern of cultural change.

What two roles does language play in migrant communities?

Language enables communication and helps people express identity and maintain relationships.

What are contrasting ways migration can affect communities of origin?

Cross-border ties can carry money, knowledge, cultural practices, and news, but migration can also separate families or contribute to unequal access to resources.

How can migrants’ identities relate to places of origin and settlement?

A person can feel connected to both places, as well as to groups such as a neighborhood, religion, language community, or profession. These connections can shift over time.

Why may cultural exchange during migration be unequal?

Exchange is not always equal: social power, discrimination, access to institutions, and the value assigned to practices can shape which cultures are recognized or shared.

Why is cultural change not a choice between preservation and abandonment?

Cultural change is not simply preserving a culture unchanged or abandoning it. Practices can gain new meanings, become more emphasized, or develop into new forms through contact.

How can learning a destination language support migrants?

Learning it can support participation in work, education, public life, and local networks.

How can a heritage language help maintain relationships?

It can support communication across generations and with relatives or communities in the place of origin.

Why does language change not prove that someone has lost their culture?

Language change is not a simple measure of cultural retention or loss; for example, some younger family members understand a heritage language better than they speak it.

What can influence whether families use a heritage language?

Schools, workplaces, community organizations, family choices, and whether a language is valued or stigmatized can all influence its use.