Over the course of history, migration, or the movement of people across various geographic and national borders, has resulted in important societal changes across socio-cultural, technological, economic and political dimensions. These movements have brought about opportunities for new combinations of ideas, practices and processes as people live their personal and professional lives at the intersections of multiple social and cultural worlds. At their most immediate, infusions of newcomers to existing societies have brought about significant changes in how people understand themselves and cultural Others. In essence, the mobility of people, ideas and practices has resulted in the emergence of novel mixings that have challenged and expanded on the existing contours of societies. It is no longer possible to speak about homogenous societies but, rather, it is necessary to acknowledge and understand how societies and nations are the result of centuries of people mixing together.

In contemporary times, these mobilities require reconsideration of how individuals are identified as part of a culture, a group or even a nation. Moreover, can we really understand differences between and among people based on nationality, culture or any other dimension in the context of mobility? Sometimes, the best displays of the complex nature of citizenship are during large-scale global events, such as the Olympics or soccer World Cup. In such instances, the intersections of race, ethnicity/heritage, language and citizenship (and privilege) allow consideration of the diversity of societies and patterns of mobility—such as Italian athletes of Somali descent, Korean-American athletes with dual citizenship competing for South Korea, Australians of Greek-descent waiving Greek and Australian flags, and so forth. These mixings of people and cultures are also evidenced in everyday lives through the production and consumption of cultural products, such as books, movies or music, that circulate globally, creating transnationally shared social imaginaries and experiences despite national borders. As a result of these ongoing encounters between and among different groups of people, societies have become transformed, bringing about opportunities to understand ‘difference’ differently or new ways of understanding one's self and cultural ‘Others’ in the context of changing social relationships.