Search

European states and international organizations employ migration information campaigns to discourage African youth from trying to get to Europe without the necessary papers. Campaigns count on a variety of actors, including local staff members of Non-Governmental Organizations in origin countries. Yet, little is known about how local campaign implementers perceive and perform their tasks. This article investigates why and how Senegalese citizens help to implement campaigns in Senegal when such campaigns try to curb the very mobility they aspire to themselves. Drawing on 15 months of ethnographic fieldwork in Senegal, where we observed how migration campaigns were organized and run, the article shows how local implementers produce borders in their daily activities while at the same time making use of the ambiguity campaigns create. We find that local campaign staffs are brokers who simultaneously reinforce and undermine 'soft' borders in their work of translating policy into practice. We analyze how campaigns are performed through the speech acts of local staff, which define and consolidate control over the mobility of Senegalese youth. At the same time, local implementers, in their practical and discursive labor, find fissures to contest dominant discourses and push an alternative message. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marriage offers one of the few routes for Senegalese migrants to enter Europe and settle there legally, and it is often assumed that migrants marry just for a residence permit. “Marriage migration” is highly scrutinized by state actors, whose admission practices and their consequences have been the focus of much research. Less, however, is known about the perspectives of migrants who left Europe in response to these practices. Drawing on one year of ethnographic fieldwork, we show how male Senegalese returnees and deportees challenge the idea that men want to marry a European resident at all costs. These men are spatially excluded from Europe but they discursively regain their dignity by returning to Senegal. Their return also challenges gendered and racialized European narratives about dangerous and hypersexual black Muslim males, and at the same time reinforces their positioning in moral hierarchies about love and marriage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Senegal, migration can both be a stigma and a privilege; it can increase social standing but also lead to stigmatization and suffering following aborted migration projects. This article uses performativity as an analytical lens to explore how Senegalese male migrants narrate and perform their return to Senegal in reaction to diverse social expectations. It focuses on men who were deported from Europe or who lived there under threat of deportation before returning voluntarily. Despite appeals by migration scholars to go beyond a limited discourse of victimhood, few studies explore returnees' agency and even fewer the agency of deportees. Based on almost a year of ethnographic fieldwork in urban Senegal, we examine multiple simultaneous performances and narrations by returnee men. Despite the numerous difficulties they experience, returnees narrate success post-return by engaging with hegemonic masculine discourses of being a provider, protector and devout Muslim. But ambiguity about return is common, including silencing of suffering in public and private spaces. Performing return as an agentic act, regardless of the duration of return or whether it was voluntary, can enable returnees to conceive of belonging to Senegalese society. By recognizing returnees' agentic performativity, this article moves beyond common categorizations of deportees as victims or criminals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Migrant-background youth travel often to their or their parents' country of origin, yet little is known about how such trips affect their personal growth. These trips have either been ignored or analysed through concepts of belonging or identity. By contrast, studies on international education and travel and tourism, which commonly focus on youth without migration background, highlight positive personal impacts of experiences abroad. This paper applies a personal growth lens to analyse how visits to the origin country impact Ghanaian-background youth living in Belgium. Drawing on 18 months of ethnographic fieldwork in Belgium and Ghana with 25 young people, we show how such trips stimulate self-confidence and aspirations. Self-confidence is strengthened through favourable treatment and access to luxurious spaces that make youth feel special. Young people develop educational and career aspirations after comparing opportunity structures they face in Belgium with their experiences in Ghana and engaging with Ghanaian role models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores how physical mobility shapes migrant youth's changing relationships to their or their parents' country of origin. Increasing numbers of youth in the Global North have a migration background and are transnationally engaged in virtual, imaginative and material mobilities. Yet our knowledge of their physical mobility is lacking, having largely been based on retrospective accounts from the country of residence, resulting in depictions of static relationships to a monolithic country of origin. This study takes a processual approach, focusing on mobility trajectories and exploring the sensorial, embodied and emotional aspects of physical mobility as it unfolds. Drawing on 14 months of mobile ethnographic fieldwork with 20 Ghanaian-background young people (aged 15–25) living in Hamburg, Germany, we focus on visits to Ghana to explore how physical mobility changes relationships to the country of origin over time (across several visits) and space (between different places within one visit). We use Urry's typology of proximity to analyse the specific and changing constellations of people, places and moments that constitute visits and thus shape these relationships. We also reflect on the methodological implications of using three mobile methods: mobility trajectory mapping, following mobility in real-time, and before-and-after interviewing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large-scale research on migrant youth categorises youth along two lines: ethnicity and generation. Yet insights from smaller-scale qualitative studies indicate that it is important to experiment with categories based on mobility. While these studies have shown that young people's mobility affects their identities, educational resilience, sense of belonging and sense of self, findings have not led to new thinking about categories used in large-scale migrant youth research. Given this lacuna, we investigate young people's mobility, understood here as long or short trips to countries other than where they reside, based on a large-scale survey in three European countries (N = 2019). We find that travels are common amongst secondary school pupils of both migrant and non-migrant background and that youth with a migration background primarily travel to their or their parents' 'home' country. While lower socio-economic status is associated with less frequent travel for the general population, it is not linked to the frequency of travel of youth with a migration background. In today's globalised world, where there are important distinctions between those who can travel and those who cannot, our findings call for putting the mobility of young people at the heart of analytical categories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Literature on diaspora engagement in development activities has centred on the contributions of migrating adults to the 'homeland', which range from private transfers to single households, to community development projects. While such studies often focus on the impact of such activities on the country of origin, relatively few have focused on what transpires during development encounters and how this affects migrants', and especially young people's, motivation to engage transnationally over time. This paper combines migration and development, transnational migration studies and second generation 'returns' literature, to address these gaps. It studies the motivations of transnational youth to engage in development encounters, which they referred to as 'giving back', in the context of their mobility trajectories. Drawing on 17 months of multi-sited ethnographic fieldwork in the Netherlands and accompanying young people during trips to Ghana, we show that giving back contributes to a sense of purpose that connects them transnationally. Young people's expectations of giving back were embedded in community narratives, which framed this as a means to 'become successful' in culturally valued ways. While young people sometimes encountered unexpected surprises, emotions experienced during development encounters led to learning that ultimately resulted in enhanced intentions of transnational engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Family reunification is the main reason youth independently migrate from the Global South to the Global North. Research on family reunification adheres to policy definitions of the phenomenon that portray reunification as something that happens within the destination country and within the nuclear family. Yet by following youth mobility trajectories, we show that young people experience many types of family reunification. This paper draws on 18 months of ethnographic fieldwork in Belgium and Ghana with young people of Ghanaian background. We find that for young people, family includes multiple caregivers who are not necessarily nuclear family members, family reunification can at the same time entail family separation, and multiple family reunifications may occur in both the origin and the destination country. Many of these reunifications and separations are significant for youth yet they remain unseen when employing a policy definition of family reunification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A growing proportion of youth in the Global North are of migration background, many of whom engage in mobility across countries, through which they establish and maintain transnational networks of peers. While young people's local peer relationships have been established as a source of social capital, studies have to date ignored the role of transnational peers. This is largely because young people's mobility has been over-simplified, obscuring mechanisms that enable transnational peer relationships to emerge and thrive. Drawing on 14 months of ethnographic, multi-sited fieldwork in Germany and Ghana with 20 young people of Ghanaian background (aged 15-25), this paper employs a mobility lens to show how transnational peer relationships provide social capital to migrant youth. We find that, through these relationships, migrant youth gain (1) educational motivation, as has been found in the literature on local peer relationships, and (2) transnational frames of reference, which is particular to transnational peer relationships. As such, we argue for an expansion of the concept of peer relationships to include those built and maintained through transnational mobility in order to generate a more comprehensive understanding of migrant youth's support systems and the valuable social capital that transnational peer relationships provide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following the recent call to combine social network analysis (SNA) approaches in the study of migrant networks and their contextualization within transnational economic, social, legal and political frameworks, in this article, I review recent studies that combine mixed‐methods SNA with observational methods in the study of transnational social networks. Such studies have enabled the collection of rich and contextualized data across multiple sites, helping to address the conundrum facing transnational migration researchers: how to combine breadth and depth in transnational data collection. Mixed‐method SNA combines quantitative and qualitative SNA methods together with in‐depth repeated interviews and observations. The article shows how mixed‐method SNA helps to address three particular challenges of doing transnational migration research: designing a transnational research project; studying transnational relationships as 'worked at'; and capturing the dynamic and changing nature of transnational relationships as embedded within multiple environments (social, legal, economic and political) in which they take place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The burgeoning literature on welfare migration, or on the likelihood of migrants moving to countries with more generous welfare states, yields mixed results. In this article, we aim to disentangle what kinds of considerations underlie the decisions that migrants and their families make to address their social protection needs when they move to certain places. We explain how Sudanese extended families, with members scattered across multiple countries, draw on formal and informal institutions to meet their needs for social protection. Through a transnational approach, we analyse the mechanisms guiding the access, circulation and coordination of resources to cover different but related social protection domains. We contribute to current debates on transnational social protection by drawing on the life stories of members of a Sudanese transnational family and by expanding on the concept of 'resource environment'. We based this article on 14 months of multi‐sited ethnographic fieldwork with Sudanese migrants and their families in the Netherlands, the UK and Sudan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we adopt a strength‐based approach to transnational parenting. Recent studies have shown that not all transnational parents have a negative sense of well‐being. Here, we explore parental resilience over a lifespan to understand how mothers and fathers alleviate the strain of spatial separation from their children. Having established from a quantitative study on the same group that neither men nor women necessarily suffer emotionally from separation from their children, we report the findings of a qualitative study on 18 Nigerian men and women in the Netherlands. We look at the strategies and resources that parents employ to overcome the challenges of migration and transnational parenting, to forge a sense of identity and belonging in a migratory context, to 'do family' while spatially separated, to deal with the difficult life events associated with migration, and to maintain a sense of agency amid stringent migration regulations. By revealing the importance of cultural and individual resources in fostering resilience, the contribution of our study is to the literature on the influence of structural factors in the promotion of well‐being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies on migration and social protection have shown that a lack of access to formal welfare in receiving countries leads migrants to rely on their informal social networks for support. This paper argues that such clear-cut dichotomies between formal and informal social protection systems ignore the manners in which both welfare-state institutions and migrants work together at the interstices of the formal and informal to cater to national and transnational social protection needs. Based on empirical data collected during 14 months of multi-sited and partially matched-sample ethnography with Sudanese families across the Netherlands and Sudan, this paper investigates how migrants sometimes enter into symbiotic relationships with different welfare-state institutions, such as municipal offices, non-governmental organisations and other immigration institutions, which in turn rely on the support of these migrants to provide social protection to people who would otherwise escape their purview. While these interplays allow migrants, who are sometimes undocumented, to informally participate in the formal social protection system, such practices are embedded within power relationships that are at times risky, especially for migrants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research has shown that migration impacts youth outcomes, including educational performance and mental and physical health. It is, however, unknown whether differing patterns of mobility affect young people differently. This is because scholarship and policy-making on youth and migration simplify youth mobility by conceptualising youth either as immobile (when they ‘stay behind’ while their parents migrate) or as moving only once (when they follow parents or migrate independently). Between these extremes is the possibly more common phenomenon of youth who engage in sustained mobility patterns prior to, during, and after their first international move. This paper explores how youth mobility can be conceptualised to include the often-complex mobility patterns exhibited by youth in today’s global cities. Through an analysis of detailed mobility data collected using mixed methods among young Ghanaians growing up in and between the Netherlands and Ghana, we propose a typology of their mobility trajectories that highlights the variety of mobility patterns that youth engage in. Such a typology helps move research beyond the ethnic lens and rigid dichotomies between internal and international migration. We argue that the diversity of youth mobilities needs to be taken into account in order to understand how migration affects youth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is the first to employ panel data to examine well-being outcomes-self-rated health, happiness, life satisfaction, and school enjoyment-of children in transnational families in an African context. It analyzes data collected in 2013, 2014, and 2015 from secondary schoolchildren and youth (ages 12-21) in Ghana (N = 741). Results indicate that children with fathers, mothers, or both parents away and those cared for by a parent, a family, or a nonfamily member are equally or more likely to have higher levels of well-being as children in nonmigrant families. Yet, there are certain risk factors-being a female, living in a family affected by divorce or by a change in caregiver while parents migrate-that may decrease child well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The economic benefits of migration for developing countries through remittance-sending practices have been extensively researched on the migration-development nexus. Remittances are used not only for productive investments, but also to ensure social protection for migrants and their families, locally and transnationally, through complex formal and informal provisions. This is necessary because migrant-sending countries often have limited formal social protection institutions, whereas formal institutions in receiving countries are based on sedentary models, excluding many migrants. By reviewing literature on social protection and migration from a transnational lens and providing examples mainly from a labour migration context from the global-south towards the global-north, we offer a comprehensive typology of institutions providing social protection to migrants and their families back home. The paper advances an emerging semi-formal social protection system, which combines informal elements migrants known from their origin countries, with private insurance schemes. This analysis contributes to re-thinking the development of an inclusive global social protection system for mobile populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the relation between parental migration and children's health in Ghana (N = 2760) and Nigeria (N = 2168) and considers four dimensions of parental migration: the type of separation, parental migration and the caregiver, stability of care arrangements, and the availability of remittances. By employing an ordered scale of children's self-rated health, we found that children with international migrant parents who are divorced/separated are less likely than children in non-migrant families to have good health. The magnitude of the effects are higher in Nigeria, attesting for a greater vulnerability of Nigerian children in divorced migrant families. Among children with parents living abroad who are stably married, specific dimensions of children's transnational life are associated with negative health, while others are not. This study highlights the sensitivity of results to the context of parent-child separation and to the transnational dimension being measured. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Migration research tends to conceptualize migrants as providers of social protection for people back home. Yet the care conducted within transnational families and the way it is organized is an integral part of a global social protection system which is based on reciprocity between migrants and their families in their home countries. This system relies on the work of people back home just as much as on the remittances of migrants overseas. Drawing on ethnographic data from 34 caregivers, we provide a detailed description of the work conducted by people in Ghana to care for migrants’ children and analyze what caregivers do to make this work possible. We find that caregivers have small networks of support they can rely on and identify the strategies they develop when remittances are not forthcoming or enough to cater for the material needs of migrants’ children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies on the transnational family highlight the emotional difficulties of migrant parents separated from their children through international migration. This article consists of a large-scale quantitative investigation into the insights of transnational family literature by examining the well-being of transnational parents compared with that of parents who live with their children in the destination country. Furthermore, through a survey of Angolan migrant parents in both the Netherlands and Portugal, we compare the contexts of two receiving country. Our study shows transnational parents are worse off than their non-transnational counterparts in terms of four measures of well-being - health, life satisfaction, happiness, and emotional well-being. Although studies on migrant well-being tend to focus exclusively on the characteristics of the receiving countries, our findings suggest that, to understand migrant parents' well-being, a transnational perspective should also consider the existence of children in the migrant sending country. Finally, comparing the same population in two countries revealed that the receiving country effects the way in which transnational parenting is associated with migrant well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is no empirical research on the school performance of children who live separated from their parents in sub-Saharan Africa—a major migrant sending region in the world. This study uses survey data from junior and secondary school children and youths in Ghana (N = 2760), Angola (N = 2243) and Nigeria (N = 2168) to examine how different transnational family formations such as internal or international parental absence accompanied by migration or divorce, who is the migrant parent and who is the caregiver, the stability of the caregiving arrangement and remittances relate with the school performance of children who stay behind. School performance is measured through an index of grades in language, mathematics and science. The results show that international parental migration (Ghana), the internal parental migration accompanied by divorce/separation (Nigeria) and migration of both parents (Ghana and Nigeria) are likely predictors for decreased school performance. No effects are observed when parents are abroad and divorced/separated, when only one parent migrates, when children are in a stable care arrangement or when children receive remittances or not. The analyses show that the overall relationship between parental absence and education varies by the transnational dimension being analysed and by context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies on transnational families argue that the subjective well-being of migrant parents is negatively affected by living separated from their children. Most studies employ qualitative methods without a control group and hence are not able to distinguish whether the effects found are associated with separation only or with other factors. This paper investigates the association between parental subjective well-being and parent–child separation by comparing migrant parents who have at least one child in their country of origin with those who live with all their children in the Netherlands. The paper further investigates whether the same associations are found between migrant groups from Angola and Nigeria. Results indicate that transnational parents indeed report lower subjective well-being, as measured by happiness, life satisfaction and mental health for both groups and additionally, self-assessed health for Angolans. However, legal status, socio-economic status and the quality of the parent–child relationship are found to be important mediators. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In Moldova, large-scale and rapidly feminised migration flows have inspired a wave of qualitative reports on children “left behind”. Despite this recent interest, few studies have empirically evaluated the effects of parental migration on the psychosocial health of such children. Using data collected from a nationally-representative household survey conducted in Moldova between September 2011 and February 2012, this paper analyses the psychosocial health outcomes of children of migrant parents by comparing them with children without migrant parents ( n = 1979). Child psychosocial health is measured through caregiver-reported Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) scores. Multivariate regression analyses show that parental migration seldom corresponds to worse emotional symptoms outcomes but does correspond to increased conduct problems. Separate analyses for male and female children show significant gendered differences. The results partially contest the negative results that have been the subject of qualitative reports and, in particular, demonstrate that the migration of mothers infrequently results in worse psychosocial outcomes for children—contrary to what has been assumed in the discourse about parental migration in Moldova. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Moldova, large-scale and rapidly feminised migration flows have inspired a wave of qualitative reports on children “left behind”. Despite this recent interest, few studies have empirically evaluated the effects of parental migration on the psychosocial health of such children. Using data collected from a nationally-representative household survey conducted in Moldova between September 2011 and February 2012, this paper analyses the psychosocial health outcomes of children of migrant parents by comparing them with children without migrant parents ( n = 1979). Child psychosocial health is measured through caregiver-reported Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) scores. Multivariate regression analyses show that parental migration seldom corresponds to worse emotional symptoms outcomes but does correspond to increased conduct problems. Separate analyses for male and female children show significant gendered differences. The results partially contest the negative results that have been the subject of qualitative reports and, in particular, demonstrate that the migration of mothers infrequently results in worse psychosocial outcomes for children—contrary to what has been assumed in the discourse about parental migration in Moldova. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When parents migrate, leaving their children in the origin country, transnational families are formed. Transnational family studies on children who are “left behind” indicate that children suffer psychologically from parental migration. Many of the factors identified as affecting children's responses to parental migration however are not considered in child psychology and family sociology studies. This study aims to bridge these areas of knowledge by quantitatively investigating the association between transnational families and children's psychological well-being. It analyzes a survey conducted in three African countries in 2010–11 (Ghana N = 2760; Angola N = 2243; Nigeria N = 2168) amongst pupils of secondary schools. The study compares children in transnational families to those living with their parents in their country of origin. Children's psychological well-being is measured through the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Multiple regression analyses reveal that children in transnational families fare worse than their counterparts living with both parents but not in Ghana where living conditions mediate this relationship. This paper also looks at four characteristics of transnational families and finds that specific characteristics of transnational families and country contexts matter: (1) changing caregivers is associated with poorer well-being in all countries; (2) which parent migrates does not make a difference in Ghana, when mothers migrate and fathers are caregivers results in poorer well-being in Nigeria, and both mother's and father's migration result in worse outcomes in Angola; (3) the kin relationship of the caregiver is not associated with poorer well-being in Ghana and Nigeria but is in Angola; (4) children with parents who migrate internationally do not show different results than children whose parents migrate nationally in Ghana and Nigeria but in Angola international parental migration is associated with poorer psychological well-being. The study shows that broader characteristics in the population rather than parental migration per se are associated with decreased levels of well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a descriptive and comparative analysis of transnational families with members located in Africa and Europe. It is thus far the only quantitative study, to our knowledge, that includes cross-country comparisons and focuses on the African European context. By comparing both countries of origin and destination, differences in family arrangements are found among Ghana, Senegal, and the Democratic Republic of Congo as well as within these groups depending on the European destination countries. Findings show that dates of arrival and migrant legal status are most commonly associated with transnational family forms. Family and gender norms at origin, migration motivations, destination country family reunification and migration policies, and destination country characteristics related to language, employment opportunities, and educational system help to explain the differences found. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the effects of international migration on the probability of divorce among Ghanaian couples in 2009. Couples that experienced joint migration, and those where the husband and/or the wife migrated alone are compared with couples with no migration experience. The relationship between migration and divorce is contextualized with anthropological insights into marital relationships in Ghana. Ghanaian data from the Migrations between Africa and Europe (MAFE) research programme, containing retrospective information on married couples, are analysed. Discrete-time event history analysis shows that migrant couples have higher divorce rates than non-migrant couples, but only when the wife migrated, either independently or jointly. Couples who spend longer periods apart are also more likely to divorce, especially when it is the husband who migrates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the effects of international migration on the probability of divorce among Ghanaian couples in 2009. Couples that experienced joint migration, and those where the husband and/or the wife migrated alone are compared with couples with no migration experience. The relationship between migration and divorce is contextualized with anthropological insights into marital relationships in Ghana. Ghanaian data from the Migrations between Africa and Europe (MAFE) research programme, containing retrospective information on married couples, are analysed. Discrete-time event history analysis shows that migrant couples have higher divorce rates than non-migrant couples, but only when the wife migrated, either independently or jointly. Couples who spend longer periods apart are also more likely to divorce, especially when it is the husband who migrates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An increasing body of transnational family literature finds that transnational family life challenges relationships between migrant parents and their children in the home country. However, transnational families are not uniform and function differently according to their specific characteristics. The aim of this study is to investigate how different factors are associated with the quality of parent–child relationships in transnational families. Based on an extensive literature review, five factors are found to be of special importance: gender of the migrant parent; contact and remittances; characteristics of the caregiver; length of separation; and the age of the child and age at separation. There is no quantitative evidence on the relationship between these factors, and how parents assess the relationship with their child in the origin country. This study uses survey data collected among 131 Angolan and 134 Nigerian migrant parents in The Netherlands with children in the country of origin in order to analyse these factors simultaneously. The study finds that contact and a good relationship between migrant parent and caregiver are important factors associated with good transnational parent–child relationships. However, important differences are found between Angolans and Nigerians, attesting to the importance of the characteristics of a particular migratory flow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Few studies have researched the use of remittances in conflict-affected contexts. This study analyzes unique data from Burundi, testing three hypotheses: relative deprivation, investment, and insurance, derived from New Economics of Labor Migration studies, employing propensity score matching. Results show that remittances are common among wealthier households, rejecting the relative deprivation hypothesis. Remittances have strong effects on non-productive assets, such as living conditions and food security, and weak effects on productive assets, such as asset ownership. Poorer households invest mostly in non-productive assets, suggesting that remittances are insurance for the poor, whereas wealthier households seem largely unaffected by remittances. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Literature on the effects of parental migration on the education of children who stay at origin, what we call 'stayer' youth, mainly focuses on educational outcomes without looking at the process leading to such outcomes. This article addresses this gap by showing how the educational trajectories of stayer youth unfold. Stayer youth may encounter a range of obstacles and interruptions to their education when their parents move overseas, and we explore the agency these youth exert and the support networks they activate to try to overcome them. We employ a youth‐centric methodology, based on 15 months of ethnographic fieldwork in three cities in Ghana, with young people whose parents migrated internationally. We find that frequent changes in residence, limited financial means, and lack of academic support cause interruptions in educational trajectories. In response, the young people mobilize support from local social networks to compensate for what they lack from their transnational connections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various reports within the issue about families of foreign workers including topics such as fathers of transnational families, the importance of qualitative and quantitative research, and family parent-child reunification.

This study focuses on the role of support networks in West African migration to the Netherlands. The authors examine the interactions of non-State support groups with West African newcomers and explore the nature, scope and function of support. What type of support networks do respondents rely on, under which circumstances, and for how long? What is the scope of support? Is it to be taken for granted? What alternatives are there for those left out of the loop? The findings suggest that support is mainly punctual, in response to a specific need, and for a limited period of time. It is not to be taken for granted, as support groups have limited capacities, and protect themselves from excessive demands. They play a significant role in providing assistance to migrants, yet this role should not be overestimated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies around the world have shown the interest of migrants to invest in houses in their countries of origin. Yet scholarly and political debates have mainly focused on the productivity of these investments, arguing that the money spent might have found more productive uses. We argue that this is too limited a view, as it fails to take into consideration two dimensions: Why do investments in houses take place, a question that is not only economic but also social and cultural in nature. Second, how do transnational investments in houses take place? This is important given that migrants are seldom able to construct their own homes, instead depending on actors in their country of origin. This paper shows the importance of unravelling the transnational relationships involved with migrant investments in houses in order to understand the meaning of these investments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Risk pooling literature argues the need for geographic proximity to ensure the functioning of informal insurance arrangements. This paper investigates whether these arrangements exist between migrants and their network members back home and, if so, how they work in the absence of geographic proximity. Analysis of a simultaneous matched sample of migrants in the Netherlands and network members in Ghana reveals the existence of reverse remittances. These remittances show that there is risk pooling between migrants and network members. The paper elaborates on the institutional arrangements that make such a system possible. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this article we investigate why some hometowns in Ghana are more successful than others in mobilizing resources for community development projects from their hometown associations (HTAs) abroad. We analyse the praxis of HTA-financed development by studying all actors involved in the process – HTAs and migrants abroad and local community leaders and their populations in Ghana. We find there is a relationship between the size of the community and the effectiveness of HTA mobilization. From a matched sample of five villages and towns in Ghana and their respective HTAs in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, we conclude that three important factors are at play in the relationship between size and effectiveness – the micro-politics of relationships between migrant and local leaders; the institutions that exist at the village/town level to create incentives or sanctions for migrants; and the relationships of trust between the different actors involved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Few studies on remittances have focused on sub-Saharan Africa. This paper analyses a nationwide survey of 5,998 households to determine the characteristics of both internal and overseas remittances in Ghana. Particular attention is paid to the poverty-alleviation potential of remittances. Furthermore, this study uses a smaller scale pilot project with a matched sample of senders and receivers of remittances to identify some problems with using household-level surveys to assess the volume and impact of overseas remittances, and offers some suggestions as to how to handle these problems. The paper estimates that foreign remittances may be three times as large as Bank of Ghana estimates, bringing Ghana on par with large remittance receiving countries such as the Philippines and Mexico. The paper concludes that while foreign remittances are larger in value, locally sent remittances reach poorer segments of the population. Both foreign and local remittances are unevenly geographically distributed, being received more in the centre and southern regions than in northern Ghana where the poorest regions are. The paper argues a need to study multiplier effects of foreign remittances, as these can be large and eventually accrue to rural populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A transnational perspective is used in the analysis of the lives of Ghanaian migrants based in the Netherlands to answer two questions: how do migrants contribute to their home country, and do they also participate in the economy where they reside? An analysis of spending patterns of migrants both in the Netherlands and in Ghana shows that migrants are doubly engaged. In Ghana they invest in housing, business and education, contributing to the daily expenses of people back home and investing in their and their extended family's reputation by donating generously at funerals. At the same time they participate in the Dutch economy at the neighbourhood, city and national level. They devise various strategies for juggling their objectives between these two countries. However, Ghanaian migrants’ contribution to both countries is hampered by the high costs of identity documents both in the formal and informal economy. The paper thus links Dutch migration policies with the consequences for the lives of people back in Ghana. As such, it demonstrates the relationship between two areas that are usually kept separate in both academic and policy discourses: development in the Third World and the integration of migrants in industrialised countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This introduction to the special issue entitled ‘Africa<>Europe: Transnational Linkages, Multi-Sited Lives’ outlines the history of the African migrant presence in Europe, gives an account of the contexts which shape contemporary migration, and surveys the approaches to international migration from Africa which have influenced researchers since the 1960s. Linking the contributions to the special issue is the theme of migrants’ transnational ‘double engagement’ with both Africa and Europe. The paper examines this theme across three domains of the lived experience of African migrants and refugees in Europe: ‘Livelihoods’, ‘Families’, and ‘Identities’. We conclude with an assessment of what can be learned (theoretically and methodologically) from the study of African transmigration, and suggest future lines of research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Migrants are increasingly leading transnational lives, impacting the institutions that shape local economies both in their place of residence and in their home communities. One example of this is the institution of funerals in developing countries. Funerals are becoming multi-sited events as migrants from developing countries play important roles in the organization, financing and practice of funeral ceremonies in their home countries. Funerals thus give rise to flows of money, goods and people across national borders, ultimately affecting different economies around the world. This article uses a multi-sited research design to follow the flows associated with a funeral held in a village in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. Detailed data were collected simultaneously in four locations involved in the funeral, and a multiplier analysis was used to trace funeral spending in different locations and sectors. The analysis shows that funeral spending supports various economic sectors in Ghana and across the globe, reinforcing the nature of funerals as (partly) economic events, which should be included in economic analyses of remittances and migration. Funeral practices are modified in various ways to accommodate transnational elements. At the same time, funerals continue to act, even in a transnational context, as occasions for reaffirming ties and a sense of belonging; they form a way for home communities, both rural and urban, to keep migrants interested in them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper describes two different savings arrangements around cattle that have been developed in two villages in the eastern region of Burkina Faso and raises the question of why two forms have evolved in the same region, populated by the same ethnic groups, and where crop and livestock production systems are similar. It is argued that while the general system of keeping savings in cattle developed out of specific social, economic and environmental trends within the 20th Century, the difference between the two systems is due to social capital endowments and environmental characteristics. The paper is based on 3 years of fieldwork between 1995 and 1998 and makes use of observation, key informant interviews and a budget study of 35 married individuals over a 2-year period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is now widely recognized that local farmers possess an important body of knowledge concerning soils and their use for agriculture. This article argues that in order for that knowledge to be useful for sustainable development interventions, it is necessary to go beyond the collection of indigenous soil taxonomies and also explore the theories farmers have on soil formation and degradation processes. Based on field research in eastern Burkina Faso, the article demonstrates that farmers'' theories of soil go beyond practical rules of thumb and include complex concepts about soil processes and fertility. In this sense they are similar to scientific theories of soil. It is argued that understanding the similarities and differences in soil related concepts, such as that of soil fertility, could do much more to improve communication between farmers, researchers and development workers than only comparing taxonomies. Furthermore, capturing the grammar (theories) rather than the sentences (taxonomies) provides a much clearer insight to how farmers will deal with changing circumstances and new crops than the static way in which local taxonomies are often treated. Finally, local soil theories are a better point of departure in terms of creating the necessary comprehension of farmer practices required for effective collaboration towards sustainable development. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Analyzes the issues regarding population growth and the environment in Africa. Relationship between environment and society; Role of local informal institutions in mediating the relationship between people and environment; Sustainability of the African environment.

Discusses soil degradation and soil nutrient depletion in the West African Sahel, which includes such countries as Mauritania and Niger. Concern of organizations such as the World Bank, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and the World Resources Institute (WRI); Discussion of the Global Assessment of Soil Degradation (GLASOD) map, which was prepared at the request of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Presents a case study from eastern Burkina Faso, Africa which explores the role of social institutions in guiding decisions regarding the use of soil and water conservation technologies. Historical development of the cultural economy; Mix of market economy with forms of exchange; Reconceptualization of soil and water conservation technologies.

Observers of Ethiopia's entry into export-oriented global value chains generally agree that social upgrading is crucial if these chains' largely female workforce is to reap the benefits of participation. They disagree, however, on the extent to which a 'business case' can be made to involve in this upgrading the managers who link frontline workers to international buyers. This article takes a novel approach to these questions by directly asking these managers and those who advise them on human resources how they understand the well-being of their frontline workers. Drawing on 37 qualitative semi-structured interviews, we find great variation in the extent to which such actors are interested in pursuing worker well-being and social upgrading beyond basic compliance. This is indeed due in part to the sectoral dynamics that have shaped managers' views of what constitutes a profitable labour regime but also by sociocultural factors that include managers' own national contexts, gender and class. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we investigate the daily work entailed in maintaining informal transnational childcare relationships between migrant parents and the children's kin or non-kin caregivers in the country of origin. By applying the concept of 'kin work', we seek to understand how work is performed within transnational care relationships. Using a simultaneous matched sample methodology that gives equal weight to data on both sides of the transnational relationship, a team of researchers collected ethnographic data from Ghanaian migrant parents in the Netherlands and from their children's caregivers in Ghana. This approach allowed us to investigate the day-to-day care work from two perspectives - namely the visible and the invisible actions of the people involved in creating the kinship relationships of care work. Discrepancies in perceptions were uncovered because we compared data obtained on both sides of the relationship. These findings contribute to our understanding of the ways in which long-distance practices facilitate the maintenance of kin relationships and how the inability to perform these can lead to tensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Moldova and Georgia, two post-Soviet countries with high emigration rates, there is little systematic empirical research on the school performance of children whose family members migrate. This study uses nationally representative data (Moldova, N = 814; Georgia, N = 655) and employs child- and caregiver-reports of school performance of children living in different transnational family configurations. We found similar assessments of school performance by children and caregivers in Georgia, but results do suggest some differing perceptions in the Moldovan reports. Overall, fathers’ migration, when mothers are caregivers, correspond to worsen education in Georgia. In Moldova, on the contrary, children with migrant fathers and cared for by mothers report improved school performance. Furthermore, in Moldova, better performance associates with parents being abroad, either together or divorced (child-reports) while decreased performance relates to the absence of remittances (caregiver-reports). The findings highlight the importance of considering different transnational characteristics and who makes the assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comments on a report in the March 2002 issue of 'Environment' from David Niemeijer and Valentina Mazzucato about their findings on soil degradation in the Sahel region of West Africa. Discussion of discrepancies highlighted by the authors between their results and earlier work based on modeling and limited field data; Topics of arable land, soil fertility, nutrient losses, and deforestation; Response of the authors to criticism of their methodology.