Migration flows from western Europe, the United States and Canada to east central Europe have received little attention so far. But numbers are now considerable and in the context of globalisation it seems appropriate to conceptualise communities of Westerners in terms of transnational social spaces as defined by Glick Schiller et al. Study of Americans in Prague reveals three main groups: enterprise managers, lifestyle migrants and entrepreneurs in small and medium-sized enterprises. All are engaged in a variety of different processes of community-building, often with clear trends towards a new transnationalism. Yet, the individual attempt to live in two societies is limited by the marked boundaries of the Communities and by the degree of social exclusion which they experience from the majority population.

Migration Czech Republic Social exclusion Transnationalism Ethnicity United States Prague East Central Europe Community

social exclusion Economic and social effects migrants experience Social aspects Europe population statistics Globalisation immigrant population