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Migrants’ Associations with Their ‘Homelands’: Transnationalism, Diaspora and Development

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Understanding International Migration

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Abstract

In this chapter, we explore the nature and significance of migrants’ connections to their places of origin—their ‘homelands’—through unpacking the concepts of transnationalism and diaspora, and then considering the significance of migration for economic and social development in these homelands. We discuss and illustrate different conceptualisations of migrant transnationalism under four headings—social, economic, cultural and political. The related concept of diaspora is explored through explaining its fundamental features and illustrating its variation through presenting a series of ideal types, which relate to differing underlying reasons for migration and to differences in relationships with the ‘homeland’ and with other migrants of similar origins living in different parts of the world. For both these concepts, we also present a critical reflection which highlights some of their limitations. The impact of migrants’ activities on development in their places of origin is then discussed, principally through focusing on financial and social remittances. Once more this includes a more critical perspective, which highlights that the effects of both financial and social remittances may be negative as well as positive, and also the wider scepticism concerning the degree to which these phenomena have the capacity to mitigate wider global inequalities.

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  1. Sociology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

    Ross Bond

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  1. Ross Bond
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Correspondence to Ross Bond .

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Bond, R. (2022). Migrants’ Associations with Their ‘Homelands’: Transnationalism, Diaspora and Development. In: Understanding International Migration. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-16463-7_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-16463-7_4

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-16462-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-16463-7

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