A Taste of Home: The Nostalgia Trade and Migrant Economic Transnationalism

Abstract

This chapter offers an analysis of economic diasporas by presenting a case study of the nostalgic trade. The chapter shows that migrants consume home country goods in ways that represent a substantive form of transnational engagement, with economic and business benefits for home and host countries. In doing so, they contribute to further integrating the global economy. This chapter considers the cases of the Albanian and Salvadoran diasporas in the United States, which offer different perspectives on the opportunities and challenges related to the nostalgia trade.