By Peggy Levitt, Wellesley College and Harvard University
Deepak Lamba-Nieves, MIT and Center for the New Economy
May 1, 2010
Migrants sent $338 billion to their homelands in 2008, according to the World Bank. Origin-country governments and aid agencies alike readily acknowledge this is no small chunk of change. In the last decade, they have adopted a wide range of policies designed to purposefully tap into the economic power and promise of remittances.
Whether we see remittances as a development panacea or as a way for states to shift responsibility for solving structural problems to migrants, economics is not the whole story.
Migrants from the developing world bring with them social remittances — defined as ideas, know-how, practices, and skills — that shape their encounters with and integration into their host societies. They also send back social remittances that promote and impede development in their countries of origin. Social remittances are often referenced in the literature but not well understood.
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