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International Migrations, Diasporas, and Remittances

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The Palgrave Handbook of Contemporary International Political Economy

Part of the book series: Palgrave Handbooks in IPE ((PHIPE))

Abstract

International migrations, diasporas, and remittances represent significant but poorly understood sources of reordering in contemporary International Political Economy (IPE). International migration patterns, diaspora social formations, and remittance transfers are diverse in their sources, channels, social composition, and social effects, which in relation to the IPE of development, pose unanswered questions and unaddressed policy challenges. These include questionable assumptions/classifications of migrants and the periodic alarms over purported ‘migration crises’, the conflation of ‘migrants’ and ‘diasporas’, and the treatment of the latter as homogenous bounded groups defined primarily by their nationality/ethnicity, and the arbitrary categories used to report remittances. While welcoming the increased attention paid to international migrations, diasporas, and remittances, this chapter cautions against overly optimistic and pessimistic assessments of their ability to produce positive development outcomes.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The International Organization for Migration (IOM), UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), International Labour Organization (ILO), UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and World Bank are the main sources of official data on international migration.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada

    James Busumtwi-Sam

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  1. James Busumtwi-Sam
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada

    Timothy M. Shaw

  2. Bavarian School of Public Policy, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany

    Laura C. Mahrenbach

  3. Centre for African Studies, University of Mumbai, Mumbai, India

    Renu Modi

  4. School of Government and International Relations, Griffith University, Nathan, QLD, Australia

    Xu Yi-chong

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Busumtwi-Sam, J. (2019). International Migrations, Diasporas, and Remittances. In: Shaw, T.M., Mahrenbach, L.C., Modi, R., Yi-chong, X. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Contemporary International Political Economy. Palgrave Handbooks in IPE. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-45443-0_12

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