Introduction Nord Nytt 98: Transnationalism Migration, movement and mixing of people and cultures have been increasing dramatically and become part of everyday life to a growing amount of people. Globalization, the relative ease of movement and communication, has changed our conceptions of belonging and sense of place, and made us redefine the basic blocks of our identities. In this theme number, we have invited writers to discuss the impacts of growing mobility on people, as well as on communities and societies. It can be claimed that there are many new possibilities in a transnational world. But to whom? The process is not universal and the borders are not equally open to everyone. People expect borders to disappear, but they will still come across different cultural, lingual, social and national borders, sometimes in surprising contexts. Even if we stay in one place, we will have to redefine or rethink our conceptions of identity, ethnicity and otherness, as we are facing different cultures more frequently, even in our own home yard. The meaning of place, locality and nationality are all under constant debate in the contemporary world. On one hand, internationality is still a popular trend and on the other hand people have ”found” their roots once again and are devoted to work for maintaining the vitality of regional, local communities. Most people find themselves navigating between different loyalties, according to the given situation. Sense of belonging is often a question of negotiation (within certain limits). People might identify with a transnational community instead of a local one, for example after moving to another country, after making international contacts using new technology or as a result of national borders being changed around them. However, transnationalism is not necessarily neither an easy way of living nor a result of a completely free choice. Transnational life of one family member might work as a survival strategy of the whole family, for example. The contemporary world and transnational practices also call for a rethinking of the meaning of a national state, as shown by the first two articles of the theme number. In the first article of the number, titled Muslimer - en minoritet i Europa?, Birgitte Schepelern Johansen and Dorthe Høvids Possing give a new angle to minority-majority questions. They show that by giving the national state the lead role in defining identities researchers and politicians alike have failed to fully understand the way some minorities form their identities. Through the example of Muslims’ response to the French government’s prohibition of religious symbols in schools, the authors show the importance of transnational networks in the processes of identity formation. They also question whether it is theoretically correct to define Muslims as a minority in Europe, given the Muslims’ power to self-definition through a global community of Muslims. In the following article Grænsestrategier og transnationale relationer ethnic and cultural similarities across the borders are under scrutiny, speaking for the artificiality of the boundaries and for special borderland identity. The author, Michael Eilenberg, explores how different border-crossing practises amongst the Ibanian population of the West Kalimantan in the border area between Indonesia and Malaysia create specific strategies for survival, identities (both national and ethnic) being first and foremost a practical strategy. Eilenberg focuses in particular on the labour migration across the international border, and shows how this migration must be seen in relation to the political and economic development in the area. Even though migration and globalization is often thought of as a contemporary feature, we should keep in mind that people have moved around and lived transnational life also during past centuries. People have migrated in search of better economical opportunities or escaped wars or political oppression. In her article, En vandrares liv, Katja Hyry examines the lifehistorical narration of Karelian refugees in Sweden. Her interviewees have crossed two borders; first from Dvina Karelia to Finland in 1920’s, and from Finland to Sweden after the wars (1948). The identity of the Swedish Karelians comes alive in their narratives. In their stories they cross the borders again and again. Hyry examines the subject from a folklorist’s perspective considering refugees’ lifehistorical tradition as a direct continuation of border themes in Karelian folklore. Hyry has interviewed the refugees in Sweden since 1994 and collected material from the archives and newspapers as well. In this article she takes closer look at the life and narration of Saimi, 90-years-old woman living in a Swedish hospice. In the article titled Japanese cuisine in Europe: From “Japanese for the Japanese” to “Creolisation” Lee Milligan analyses Japanese restaurants in three European cities and the process by which Japanese cuisine becomes part of European culinary life. He shows us how Japanese restaurants in Europe have changed from being mainly ”Japanese for the Japanese” to more creolised establishments targeting mainly the local, European taste. It seems one important factor in this process is whether or not Japanese nationals can be said to have a direct influence in the restaurants. The author engages in an interesting debate of ”authenticity” versus ”creolisation”, critically examining the central concepts of the article: ”authenticity”, ”real” and ”Japanisation”. Maria Walaszek’s article Our Culture or our Cultures? discusses two coexistent tendencies: globalization and regionalisation, taking international students as an example. Her material consists of observations as well as answers to a questionnaire given to Polish students studying in Finland. Walaszek has noticed the tendency of students to stay with other foreigners – together creating a culture of their own. She states a question, to what extent can we talk about common culture which students from different European countries share? Students navigate between homeland, new (temporary) country of residence and an international community formed by students. On the other hand, there is also a noticeable tendency to socialize with people coming from the same country or same area. Walaszek discusses reasons for this, and examines whether the attitudes of students (towards their own countries) changed during their stay in Finland. In addition to the theme articles we also bring an article by Marek Stefaniak. In his article Snabbmatens risksamhälle – En kulturanalys av McDonald’s the author analyses McDonald’s and it relation to the ideals, praxis and values of our everyday life. The body and the control of it is central to the way we identify ourselves in today’s consumption society. Keeping the right balance and avoiding gaining weight is threatened by the risks posed by fast food companies such as McDonald’s. To avoid loosing costumers McDonald’s has therefore had to changed its concept to create confidence in the company and keep up the relation with the costumers and their central values. McDonald’s thus is part of today’s risk society. Enjoy reading! Serine Blitzner and Pihla Vuorinen