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This research sets out to analyse which factors hinder the attempts of migrants from Russia to combat disinformation about living in Finland – which represents the ‘West’ – through social remittances. This was looked at from the perspective of a particular case, ‘the child custody’ disinformation dispute. The research finds that migrants do actively try to shape the ideas that their friends and family in Russia have of Finland; part of this happens through discussion of the child custody case. The migrant interviewees had tried to provide information that differed from that provided by the Russian media and officials. However, they had found it difficult to change the perspectives and opinions of their friends and family through social remittances because of the strong foothold that traditional media outlets have in Russia, the perception of a strong East vs West dichotomy and a perceived mistrust of migrants and the things which they report from abroad. The study offers insights into the various factors that constrain the transmission of social remittances.

This paper analyzes whether natives with a network abroad have a distinctive cultural stance compared to similar individuals without such connections within the same region. Using individual-level data on connectedness from the Gallup World poll across 2256 within-country regions over 148 countries, it characterizes individuals’ cultural stance based on three traits: pro-social behavior, religiosity, and gender-egalitarian attitudes. The paper shows that natives who have a connection abroad are characterized by stronger pro-social behavior, religiosity, and gender-egalitarian attitudes. To address potential biases arising from omitted variables, it controls for an extensive array of individual characteristics and region-by-year fixed effects. The results are robust to employing comprehensive measures of connectedness, employing matching techniques, and assessing selection biases related to unobservable factors. Finally, by leveraging both country and individual-level heterogeneity, the analysis indicates that the pro-social behavior stance of connected individuals is fairly consistent across different contexts and individuals, while the findings on religiosity and gender-egalitarian attitudes are more sensitive to local and individual factors. The paper therefore shows that factors enhancing or dampening this relation are cultural trait specific. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How does emigration affect tax preferences in migrant-sending countries? Experiencing public services in a high tax-capacity destination may reduce support for tax increases by throwing fiscal failure at home into stark relief (the socialization hypothesis). Alternatively, migrants' exclusion from certain public services may increase desire to fund these services in migrant origin countries (the exclusion hypothesis). We test these competing hypotheses with an online survey experiment in Mexico and explore variation in US healthcare access on fiscal policy preferences of migrant households. Migrant households, especially those with returned migrant members, are more supportive of taxation when tax revenue is earmarked for healthcare, a service to which many Mexican immigrants in the US lack access. It is migrants' exclusion from, rather than their socialization into, the fiscal contract in destination countries that influences fiscal policy preferences in their countries of origin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Migration from Zimbabwe to South Africa has long history. This migration has always been circulatory in nature. The migrants remain connected to their communities of origin through frequent visits, communication, sending remittances, and investments. The term ―transnationalism‖ has only recently begun to describe it. Transnational migration creates the possibility of cultural change in the migrants‘ communities of origin. As they move between places, people encounter and adopt new ways of life that they bring back to their communities of origin. Migration researchers have developed the concept of ―cultural hybridisation‖ to describe this phenomenon. Using a qualitative research design and non-probability sampling methods, this paper presents empirical evidence of cultural hybridisation in migrant communities in Zimbabwe. There is evidence of the emergence new cultural forms and practices that are different from the original ones. The development of the hybrid cultures is an outcome of tensions, conflict, negotiations, and accommodations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research sets out to analyse which factors hinder the attempts of migrants from Russia to combat disinformation about living in Finland - which represents the 'West' - through social remittances. This was looked at from the perspective of a particular case, 'the child custody' disinformation dispute. The research finds that migrants do actively try to shape the ideas that their friends and family in Russia have of Finland; part of this happens through discussion of the child custody case. The migrant interviewees had tried to provide information that differed from that provided by the Russian media and officials. However, they had found it difficult to change the perspectives and opinions of their friends and family through social remittances because of the strong foothold that traditional media outlets have in Russia, the perception of a strong East vs West dichotomy and a perceived mistrust of migrants and the things which they report from abroad. The study offers insights into the various factors that constrain the transmission of social remittances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the efforts of the Lithuanian diaspora to make an impact on post-1990 Lithuania. The main object of this research is the Friends of the Lithuanian Front (FLF), an association formed in the Lithuanian diaspora after the Second World War, which united people of a Christian worldview who identified themselves with the anti-Soviet and anti-Nazi resistance. After Lithuania regained its independence in 1990, the FLF tried to introduce to Lithuanian society the intangible heritage accumulated in the diaspora. The transnational relations that the FLF formed in the previous period were used for that purpose. They made it possible to establish organisational structures in Lithuania to set up contacts and cooperation with Lithuanian politicians. The concepts of sociology, “social remittances”, and “political remittances” were used to interpret historical data and reveal the efforts of the Friends of the Lithuanian Front to acquaint Lithuanian society with the concept of integral democracy and influence the politics of Lithuanian history and memory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Informal transnational exchanges continue to attract the interest of migration scholars. Recent developments in Moldova following the Ukrainian refugee crisis warrant more discussions around the value of such exchanges, particularly in relation to informal provisions of aid. Building on theoretical perspectives on remittances, value and sociality, this article shows that parcel-sending should be addressed in its socio-economic complexity beyond the financial and legislative implications of transporting ‘goods.’ Using ethnographic examples of Moldovan parcel-sending from two fieldworks based on semi-structured interviews and participant observation, the article discusses what parcel-senders and receivers consider ‘valuable’ about this practice, both in the context of everyday transnational life and the Ukrainian refugee crisis in Moldova. Data supporting the ESRC-funded part of this study are available from UK Data Service at https://doi.org/10.5255/UKDA-SN-856679. Data are safeguarded and can be accessed subject to UK Data Service End User Licence Agreement.

This paper analyzes Romania’s dynamic migratory process with a focus on the return migration from Norway and the sociocultural changes that it might involve for Romanian migrants and their home societies. The focus on Norway as a case study can bring a valuable, accurate, and deep understanding of Romanian immigration. These indicate that Romanians faced many challenges in their migratory journey in Norway, but that for a source country like Romania, return migration could, in the long term, contribute to its social and cultural changes. This research resulted in three key findings. Firstly, through their migratory experience from Norway, Romanian returnees internalized social remittances, and changed their attitudes, behavior, values, and expectations before disseminating their knowledge in their family -and social environment. Secondly, the prevalence of social remittances might be dependent on the motivation of returnees to transfer their knowledge, ideas, and practices in the scope of contributing to social change. The prevalence of social remittances might also be dependent on the way the societies of origin receive the resources that returnees attempt to transmit and culturally diffuse. Thirdly, Romania, as an emigration society, has had a relaxed attitude towards change. However, repatriated Romanians maintain a confident outlook on the potential of their skills and know-how conferring them influence over certain cultural aspects in the spheres of work and social relationships.

Kosovo is a country profoundly shaped by migration. A growing body of literature pays tribute to this. However, up to now, it has barely focused on the implications of return. Female returnees – and especially highly skilled female returnees – are even less likely to be in the focus of research. Against this background, this paper investigates how highly skilled female Kosovars experience migration to North America or Western Europe and their subsequent return to Kosovo. Within this setup, the focus is on the impact of migration on the participants’ gender norms and their attempts to shape those in Kosovo upon return. The results show that all participants experienced their sojourn abroad as empowering. The majority made use of this empowerment and actively fought for gender equality after return. However, resistance by the local population and reintegration issues impeded their engagement, prompting every second participant amongst those interviewed for this study to consider re-emigration. Despite this, two-thirds of the participants stayed and continued their engagement for gender equality but usually in an adapted manner. The paper concludes that highly skilled female return migrants have great – although fragile – potential to promote gender equality in Kosovo.

Households that send members to work away from home often receive information about the lifestyles and consumption behaviors in those migration destinations (i.e., social remittances) along with money or goods (i.e., economic remittances). The authors investigate the effect of having a migrant household member on household brand expenditures in rural India, a market characterized by substantial consumption of unbranded products. They collect and analyze household-level survey data from 434 households across 30 villages using an instrumental variable strategy. Economic remittances result in greater brand expenditure, and this level is higher for poorer households. After controlling for economic remittances, the authors find that the effect of migration on brand expenditures is more positive for households in more populous villages, with greater access to mobile phones, lower viewership of television media, and less recently departed migrants. They demonstrate how marketing resource allocation across villages can be improved by incorporating migration data and provide insights for household targeting in the context of door-to-door selling in villages. The results are robust to alternative, public policy–based instruments and can be generalized to expenditure on private schools. Using additional survey data from 300 households in 62 new villages, the authors replicate the results by comparing within-households brand expenditures before and after the migration event. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we focus on the return of young migrants from abroad. We understand return as one phase in the migration cycle. We show that the experience of living abroad leads to changes in the social behavior of young people, as well as to changes in the structure of their values in a broader sense. We also reveal that return serves as a catalytic process in which young returnees understand their own changes while living abroad in contrast to the situation in their society of origin. Therefore, the first part of the study presents return as a dynamic process of personal and cultural transformation. The second part of the paper focuses on social remittances which are analyzed as sources of innovation in the country of origin. Then, in the third part, we deal with the role of young returning migrants in spreading innovation in families, local communities and in the wider society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taco Hemingway is one of Poland's most popular rappers, becoming the first Polish artist to be streamed a billion times on Spotify. Often described as a fresh voice in the Polish hip hop scene, Hemingway also offers a new perspective due to his status as a return migrant, having lived in the United Kingdom. As such, this article positions Hemingway's output in the context of migration studies and, specifically, the impact migration has on sending countries. Through Hemingway's music, the article examines the various stages of migration, from experiences abroad to return and circular migration, while also appraising Hemingway's work within the context of social remittances--the impact that return migrants have on stayers. It also posits that Hemingway's oeuvre represents the failure of the "Grand Narrative" of Polish migration, as well as the dissatisfaction that return migrants can feel upon return, choosing ultimately to go back to the country to which they emigrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the 30 years of transition from communist regimes, the people's views towards transition have varied from support to opposition. We empirically examine the influences of international labour migration on these views, using the survey data covering 28 transition countries in Europe and the former Soviet Union area and three points of time, 2006, 2010 and 2016, based on multivariate regression models. Our main findings are twofold. (I) Labour emigration to Western Europe increased people's support for a market economy and democracy over a planned economy and authoritarian government, albeit a less robust result for democracy. This suggests the role of social remittances – migrants transmit their experiences and promote the support for transition among people remaining in the home countries. (II) However, immigrant inflows reduced these support, suggesting that the economic and cultural conflicts with immigrants made people sceptic towards liberal policies or nostalgic towards the communist era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes Romania's dynamic migratory process with a focus on the return migration from Norway and the sociocultural changes that it might involve for Romanian migrants and their home societies. The focus on Norway as a case study can bring a valuable, accurate, and deep understanding of Romanian immigration. These indicate that Romanians faced many challenges in their migratory journey in Norway, but that for a source country like Romania, return migration could, in the long term, contribute to its social and cultural changes. This research resulted in three key findings. Firstly, through their migratory experience from Norway, Romanian returnees internalized social remittances, and changed their attitudes, behavior, values, and expectations before disseminating their knowledge in their family -and social environment. Secondly, the prevalence of social remittances might be dependent on the motivation of returnees to transfer their knowledge, ideas, and practices in the scope of contributing to social change. The prevalence of social remittances might also be dependent on the way the societies of origin receive the resources that returnees attempt to transmit and culturally diffuse. Thirdly, Romania, as an emigration society, has had a relaxed attitude towards change. However, repatriated Romanians maintain a confident outlook on the potential of their skills and know-how conferring them influence over certain cultural aspects in the spheres of work and social relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper provides an overview of both social and monetary diaspora remittances and their societal and economic impacts. Since migration is never a sole "muscle drain" (labor power drain), but always to a certain extent a "brain drain", the study analyzes possible effects of high-skilled international migration (highly-skilled diaspora). In addition, the pros and cons of monetary remittances are summarized and analyzed. Being among the countries with the largest Diasporas relative to the total nation's population, Serbia represents a rich case study for societal and economic impacts of social and monetary diaspora remittances.

The article attempts to explore the impacts of 'social remittances' on the economic activities of households belonging to labour migrants who migrate from a village of Bangladesh to Malaysia on temporary contractual basis. It reveals that there has been a clear difference of social remittance impacts on the economic activities between the first-cycle migrants and the repeat-cycle migrants. The economic activities of first-cycle migrants are not impacted by social remittances while the economic activities of repeat-cycle migrants are limitedly impacted. In understanding the dynamics of social remittance impacts, the article applies a conceptual framework of 'social remittances' explained by Peggy Levitt and rationalises it through migration governance of Malaysia and some factors, directly and indirectly related to migration governance, and other factors. The study conducts in-depth interviews on 20 first-cycle and repeat-cycle migrants who were from Madhupur Village of Bangladesh in 2011 and revisited the village in 2018. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Social remittances- the transfer of ideas, practices, and codes of behaviors- are a well-documented subject in migrant transnationalism literature and transnational family studies. However, the COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak has generated unprecedented regulations around the world which require widening the conceptual basis of social remittances in a state of emergency. As the pandemic progresses, most countries require civilians to follow a number of norms deemed as the “new normality,” while other countries continue to operate under their “old normality,” with minor or no restrictions. As national pandemic policy responses vary across countries, transnational families live under different regimes of “normality.” In these settings, the study of transnational families offers a valuable opportunity to examine a special type of social remittances practiced during global crises, and analyze whether the exchange of rules, practices, and ideas across national borders has any impact on re-shaping and renegotiating pandemic-coping “new normality” practices for both migrants and their families. The paper is based on 13 in-depth interviews conducted with representatives from Armenian transnational families with migrant members in Russia, the Czech Republic, or Belarus. These countries provide a backdrop for an examination of social remittances among transnational families that we term “pandemic transnationalism.” The study shows that the circulation of safety rules and “good practices” actively shapes the everyday behavior of migrants and their families, their level of perceived danger towards the coronavirus, and their practical knowledge of safety measures. The latter are often harnessed in informal collective settings despite being in conflict with the obligations and regulations of their home society.

Abstract While transnational social ties and exchanges are a core concern within migration studies, health researchers have often overlooked their importance. Continuous and circular exchanges of information within transnational networks, also defined as social remittances, facilitate the diffusion of innovations, potentially driving contemporary social and cultural change. Influences on health, wellbeing, and care-seeking are important, but under-researched, dimensions for consideration. We undertook a systematic narrative evidence synthesis to describe the current state of knowledge in this area and to identify gaps and future directions for health researchers to take. Between April 2017 and May 2019, an iterative series of searches in Medline, Embase, PsycINFO and PubMed, plus backward and forward citation searches identified 1173 potential papers. Screening resulted in 36 included papers, eighteen focused on migrant populations and eighteen on those who remain behind. The top three health topics were health-seeking strategies, sexual and reproductive health issues, and healthcare support. And, while not always explicitly identified, mental health and wellbeing was a further prominent, cross-cutting theme. Articles on migrant populations were all conducted in the global North and 13 out of 18 used qualitative methods. Five main themes were identified: therapeutic effect of the continuing social relationships, disrupted social relationships, hybridisation of healthcare, facilitation of connections to healthcare providers, and factors encouraging or undermining transnational social exchanges. Papers concerned with those who remain behind were mainly focused on the global South and used a mix of qualitative and quantitative approaches. Four main themes were identified: transnational transfer of health-related advice, norms, and support; associations between migrant linkages and health behaviours/outcomes; transnational collective transfer of health knowledge; and power and resistance in exchanges. Findings suggest that transnational social exchanges can both support and undermine the health of migrants and those who remain behind. This review confirms that the volume and quality of research in this area must be increased so that health policy and practice can be informed by a better understanding of these important influences on the health of both migrants and those who remain behind.

This article explores Somali transborder/transnational activism through the role of two individual actors, drawing upon their life histories and a selection of initiatives they have been involved in over time. The Somali-populated Horn of Africa provides a highly complex environment for the production of identities, based on its ethno-linguistic heritage, clan affiliations, Islam and their variable state-like affiliations in what is a highly politically fragmented context. These complex and multiple forms of identity incorporate diasporic and non-diasporic actors, all of which complicates notions of citizenship. This article draws upon social and cultural notions of citizenship (rather than legal-bureacratic) to argue that the agency expressed by the two protagonists is usefully understood as a form of evolving transborder citizenship. Furthermore, the article utilizes the concept of 'social remittances' to suggest that the quality of behaviour expressed by our transborder citizens is a form of 'civicness', reflective of an engagement with and resistance to the volatile and exclusionary politics of conflict affected contexts. Utilizing life histories enables us to explore how individuals and the networks of which they are part, pursue different strategies, to varying effects, over time and in multiple settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Remittances have played crucial and shifting roles in Eritrea and its diaspora. They were fundamental to the achievement of national independence and are a resource with which the current government strengthens its power. Households have been reliant on remittances for survival, while for migrants they have been crucial to reinforce their sense of national belonging. Drawing from fieldwork, this article analyses remittances as a powerful tool to assess the ongoing (dis)connection between segments of the Eritrean diaspora and their homeland. The article firstly addresses financial remittances and shows how (in)formal flows play differing functions in relation to the government, communities, and families. Aft er highlighting how social remittances are contributing to current transformations within Eritrean society, it reflects on the potential role remittances may play in the future of the country.

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Remittances have played crucial and shifting roles in Eritrea and its diaspora. They were fundamental to the achievement of national independence and are a resource wiThwhich the current government strengthens its power. Households have been reliant on remittances for survival, while for migrants they have been crucial to reinforce their sense of national belonging. Drawing from fieldwork, this article analyses remittances as a powerful tool to assess the ongoing (dis)connection between segments of the Eritrean diaspora and their homeland. The article firstly addresses financial remittances and shows how (in)formal flows play differing functions in relation to the government, communities, and families. After highlighting how social remittances are contributing to current transformations within Eritrean society, it reflects on the potential role remittances may play in the future of the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social remittances- the transfer of ideas, practices, and codes of behaviors- are a well-documented subject in migrant transnationalism literature and transnational family studies. However, the COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak has generated unprecedented regulations around the world which require widening the conceptual basis of social remittances in a state of emergency. As the pandemic progresses, most countries require civilians to follow a number of norms deemed as the "new normality," while other countries continue to operate under their "old normality," with minor or no restrictions. As national pandemic policy responses vary across countries, transnational families live under different regimes of "normality." In these settings, the study of transnational families offers a valuable opportunity to examine a special type of social remittances practiced during global crises, and analyze whether the exchange of rules, practices, and ideas across national borders has any impact on re-shaping and renegotiating pandemic-coping "new normality" practices for both migrants and their families. The paper is based on 13 in-depth interviews conducted with representatives from Armenian transnational families with migrant members in Russia, the Czech Republic, or Belarus. These countries provide a backdrop for an examination of social remittances among transnational families that we term "pandemic transnationalism." The study shows that the circulation of safety rules and "good practices" actively shapes the everyday behavior of migrants and their families, their level of perceived danger towards the coronavirus, and their practical knowledge of safety measures. The latter are often harnessed in informal collective settings despite being in conflict with the obligations and regulations of their home society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents current perspectives on the gender approach to the study of migration in Chile between 1990 and 2018, contextualizing it in light of international debates in the social sciences. We will discuss how the feminization and the growth of Latin American migrations have given rise to a prolific field of research, as exemplified by studies conducted in central and northern Chile. We will show how the concepts of social remittances and caregiving permeate the Chilean debate on migrant women. We conclude with reflections on topics and perspectives to be incorporated into the Chilean research agenda on gender and migration.

Our article considers social remittances and social change in Central and Eastern Europe. We show how migration scholarship can be embedded into the wider study of social processes and relations. ‘Social remitting’ sometimes seems to be little more than a slippery catchphrase; however, this article defends the concept. If it is defined carefully and used cautiously, it should help the researcher to think about what, in addition to money, is sent from one society to another and exactly how, thus shedding light on important and insufficiently studied aspects of migration. A close-up view of the processes by which ideas, practices, norms, values and, according to some definitions, social capital and social skills are transferred by migrants across international borders helps researchers to understand more precisely how migration contributes to social change or, in some cases, prevents it from occurring. Our article reviews some of the most interesting arguments and findings presented recently by other scholars and discusses aspects of social remitting which particularly interested us in our own research. The context of our research is social change in Poland: we attempt to understand how migration has contributed to wider patterns of social change since 1989 and exactly how it intertwines with other social trends and globalisation influences. This entails a careful focus on both structural conditions and agency and therefore on social remittances.

This paper explores how transgender refugees living in the United Kingdom, Europe and the United States leverage social remittances and transnational ties to advocate for their rights within intolerant receiving countries. Even after migration, their frequent experiences of persecution in so-called “safe” countries often necessitate a continuation of their activism. This study centers on the lived experiences of transgender refugees through a combination of case studies, interviews, and participatory photography. Focusing on three case studies, it analyzes the role of social remittances and transnational ties in the activism of transgender refugees. The results illustrate how transgender individuals build activist networks through interpersonal connections, especially within what research participants described as “chosen families” in receiving countries. Grassroots nonprofit organizations serving transgender refugees prove essential to building this collectivity formation. Such organizations act as loci of activism and allow for safe sharing of lifesaving social remittances to those still living in origin countries. In addition, new technologies, including end-to-end encrypted messaging platforms, allow for the secure one-on-one exchange of ideas and survival practices around gender identity. This sharing creates a ripple effect, leading to the creation of robust transnational networks between transgender activists worldwide. I argue that systemic oppression, racism, and transphobia in receiving countries push transgender refugees, victims of violence worldwide, into roles as activists. By investing in chosen families, participating in nonprofit organizations dedicated to supporting transgender refugees, and sharing their activism worldwide through transnational networks, transgender refugee activists fight to access their fundamental human rights.

A high number of migrants returned from their transatlantic sojourn to their native Hungary between the 1880s and the 1930s. Despite being pauperised and marginalised in the United States, they encountered norms and mechanisms of a democratic society and cultural patterns unknown to the rural society they hailed from. Upon returning, they implemented some of these practices. The paper investigates the durability of this cultural change and argues that the transatlantic transmission of norms was outweighed in significance by internal, regional movements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a novel approach to understanding the impact of migration on sending countries. It looks at the topic the other way round from conventional approaches. Rather than only studying migrants' influence on countries of origin, as migration scholars naturally do, I recommend first mapping social trends in sending countries to understand the most significant changes, before analysing why change takes place. Such analysis involves qualitative sociological research to understand the causes of change: how social remittances and more indirect migration influences combine with other factors. Focusing on sending country residents, the approach also applies concepts and findings from receiving societies research. The approach encourages a thorough investigation of transnational social space, seeing sociological phenomena such as socialisation or social activism taking place across international borders. The case study is twenty-first century Europe, with its dense and diverse migration patterns. The article discusses my experience of applying the approach to Poland, suggesting that migration exposure's special role may be to reinforce national trends (e.g. towards more open-to-difference attitudes) even in social groups and geographical locations which are generally more conservative. Finally, I discuss how the approach might be applied in other post-communist countries, as well as further afield. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While transnational social ties and exchanges are a core concern within migration studies, health researchers have often overlooked their importance. Continuous and circular exchanges of information within transnational networks, also defined as social remittances, facilitate the diffusion of innovations, potentially driving contemporary social and cultural change. Influences on health, wellbeing, and care-seeking are important, but under-researched, dimensions for consideration. We undertook a systematic narrative evidence synthesis to describe the current state of knowledge in this area and to identify gaps and future directions for health researchers to take. Between April 2017 and May 2019, an iterative series of searches in Medline, Embase, PsycINFO and PubMed, plus backward and forward citation searches identified 1173 potential papers. Screening resulted in 36 included papers, eighteen focused on migrant populations and eighteen on those who remain behind. The top three health topics were health-seeking strategies, sexual and reproductive health issues, and healthcare support. And, while not always explicitly identified, mental health and wellbeing was a further prominent, cross-cutting theme. Articles on migrant populations were all conducted in the global North and 13 out of 18 used qualitative methods. Five main themes were identified: therapeutic effect of the continuing social relationships, disrupted social relationships, hybridisation of healthcare, facilitation of connections to healthcare providers, and factors encouraging or undermining transnational social exchanges. Papers concerned with those who remain behind were mainly focused on the global South and used a mix of qualitative and quantitative approaches. Four main themes were identified: transnational transfer of health-related advice, norms, and support; associations between migrant linkages and health behaviours/outcomes; transnational collective transfer of health knowledge; and power and resistance in exchanges. Findings suggest that transnational social exchanges can both support and undermine the health of migrants and those who remain behind. This review confirms that the volume and quality of research in this area must be increased so that health policy and practice can be informed by a better understanding of these important influences on the health of both migrants and those who remain behind. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Qualitative life-history narratives investigating the portability of political and civil society beliefs/behaviours of 42 New Zealand returnees help us to understand why some citizens engage in political and civil society activities while living overseas and on return. Personal beliefs such as civic duty, rights and self-interest are strongly associated with the portability of political and civil society behaviours. Yet findings also support theories of exposure, indicating that political/civil society learning can occur across the 'migration life course' and challenge resistance theory arguments that a break in participation inhibits political engagement later in life. Although civil society engagement is shaped more by self-interest than altruism overall, most returnees failed to volunteer as a way of better integrating on their return as many had overseas. Thus, the ' home ' context can inhibit citizenship engagement, reducing the benefits New Zealand could reap from exposure to new ideas, places and people while overseas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on skilled migrants often focuses on the negative effects of migration on sending countries. Discussions of positive results are limited to monetary remittances. Using ethnographic data, we explore the impact of mobility on the creation of new opportunities in Poland. We argue that Polish women bring back, not only financial resources, but also socio-cultural remittances that allow them to establish new businesses, pursue novel employment opportunities, and gain new perceptions of gender roles and equality. We depart from the conceptualization of labor migration, which emphasizes the dichotomy between sending and receiving countries, the pervasive nature of national borders that separate labor migrants from origin countries, and the ubiquitous financial gains. Instead, we focus on socio-cultural remittances that are deployed in transnational spaces.

The relationship between social remittances, integration patterns and intergenerational transmission has been the subject of several studies across Europe. This article aims to explore the complex links between migration, social inclusion abroad and social remittances between several generations of Moldovan migrants in Italy. The production of social remittances incorporates many variables: the exposure to remittances migrants had during their childhood in Moldova, the family relationships and the degree of involvement in collective initiatives. We took into consideration three dimensions: remittances' directionality, including reverse social remittances, the role in the exchange (sender or receiver) and the intensity of exposure/involvement. Our analysis indicates that there is a difference in transnational behaviours between the first migrants and the new generation. Parents are often trapped in occupational and socially segregated niches, while their children have opportunities to develop greater social mobility and to strengthen cosmopolitan affiliations. Young people raised in Italy, compared to their parents, have more opportunities for meaningful social contacts that can be translated into innovative ideas in Moldova. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, grounded in the literature on transnational migration, a theory of transnational social gravity is developed in which economic, social, and psychological dimensions of transnationalism increase or remain stable initially, and decline after reaching separate inflection points based on competing bonding social capital with the origin and destination as a migrant's time abroad increases. The theory is tested for the case of 361 active migrants from Bolivian households in the Valle Alto (near Cochabamba, Bolivia) in 2007. The results tend to support the theory. Economic remittances decrease after two years abroad; social contacts (telephoning and intending to return) after four to six years; and attitudes in support of migration by the family left behind, after six years. These declines are directly correlated with bonding to the destination and inversely with bonding to the origin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article aims to show how returnees interpret the transfer of their accumulated knowledge, experience and ideas in Lithuania, using the concept of social remittances, and discussing normative structures and practice systems, and how returnees identify their relationship with the social environment of the country of origin. The aims are to discuss what types of social remittances were brought from migration, the experience, and how and to whom they are most often transferred. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years there has been a renewed enthusiasm about the role of migration in development, as well as the importance of remittances. However, there is also a danger of rehashing previous debates with an overemphasis on economic remittances, while relegating the transfer of social remittances, such as new ideas, knowledge, skills, practices, and social capital, to a secondary role. Though literature on social remittances has increased over the last decade, the debate tends to emphasise the positive relation between migration, remittances, and development. In this paper we scrutinise this relation. Based on eight months of multi‐sited empirical research in Thailand (origin) and Singapore (destination), the aim of this paper is to enhance our understanding of the process of transfer of social remittances to the place of origin, and their effect on social resilience. This paper examines current and returned migrants and hypothesises that the translocal setting – including both occupational engagement at the destination and local conditions at the place of origin – and time decisively influence how social remittances can be used back home. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growing volume of international students has attracted research interest on their return experiences and the potential impacts of their overseas education in their home countries. This paper uses the notion of aspiration to investigate international students' return experiences in connection to their motivations and perceived gains from studying abroad. Interviews with Filipino returnees who completed their postgraduate studies in Europe suggest that their plans to study abroad involved aspirations to return to the Philippines for different reasons, including career and family-related factors. Their aspirations also reflect their desired contributions to their respective occupational fields in the country. Their narratives of returning to the workplace, however, reveal institutional factors that either facilitate or constrain the transfer of ideas, knowledge and practices gained from their experiences abroad. Findings point to how returnees' workplace experiences, in turn, reshape their career aspirations and migration intentions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The phenomenon of social remittances has been investigated by authors of a vast literature who have also subjected to critical analysis the link between migration and development. The present paper explores the case of the Republic of Moldova in the context of south-eastern Europe, a region characterized by consolidated emigration that has generated a great flow of financial and social remittances over the years. Through multi-location research conducted in Italy and in Moldova, our goal is to analyse social remittances at the level of 'ideas' and the level of 'practices', discussing the conditions that have produced socioeconomic change in the localities of departure. This will show how this change does not always reflect the model of economic and social development sustained by international organizations and the European Union in the Eastern Partnership area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the prominence of 'migration' as a policy domain in many African countries has shifted from labour-export policies to so-called 'diaspora policies'. In these policies, migration is emphasised as a key instrument to stimulate development, particularly through return to the homeland and migrant entrepreneurship. Despite much attention accorded to migrants' agency and affiliated cultural aspects in the 'migration and development nexus' debate, practices of return migration policy suffer from an inconsistency problem. The intention to promote national development is restricted by conceptual boundaries that define 'return migration' as a uni-directional flow from countries of immigration to countries of origin, and that reduce 'development' to its economic dimension. Acknowledging that migration and development have been long recognised in the scholarly literature as multi-faceted phenomena, this article exposes this inconsistency problem through ethnographic research among return businessmen in Senegal, whose experiences are advocated in diaspora policy as ideal returnees. I show how their practices are rooted in transnational relationships with the former country of immigration and, by implication, are built on bi-directional rather than uni-directional flows. Their motivations to return and invest depend on the sustainability of such relationships. I further illustrate that, by cultivating transnational linkages, initiating innovation and setting new examples, return businessmen bring implications for development well beyond economic growth as the core interest of diaspora policy. I conclude that the framing of development as a goal of diaspora policy in economic terms neglects what return migrants themselves value as important development objectives and outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the impact of international migration on the transfer of political and social norms. Exploiting recent and unique data on Morocco, this paper explores whether households with return and current migrants bear different political preferences and behaviours than non-migrant families. Once controlling for the double selection into emigration and return migration, the findings suggest that having a returnee in the household increases the demand for political and social change. This result is driven by returnees mostly from Western European countries, who were exposed to more democratic norms in the destination. However, we find a negative impact of having a current migrant on the willingness of the left-behind households to change. This result is driven by migrants to non-Western countries, where the quality of political and social institutions is lower. Our results are robust to also controlling for destination selectivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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