Fixed places, shifting distances: remittance houses and migrants’ negotiation of home in Ecuador

Abstract

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>Many case studies on the rationale and purpose of transnational housing initiatives and so-called remittance houses have been published over the past two decades. Still missing, though, is a framework to illustrate the conceptual value of researching these buildings and their ways of mediating the relationships between movers and stayers. With a view to this, the article illustrates what remittance houses ‘do’ to narrow down the gaps that emerge—in space, time, status, and knowledge—between migrants and their communities of origin. As our fieldwork with Ecuadorian migrants in Europe and their left-behind counterparts shows, remittance houses are more than investments, or resources for migrants’ emotional attachment and dreams of return. They are also central to the negotiation of class, status and belonging, and to the very interplay between housing and home along the course of migration. As ‘agents’ in themselves, these houses shape the transnational connections between distant and disparate places, and the circulation of home-related ideas and practices across them. Over time, they embody a variety of meanings and expectations that, unlike the buildings, are far from fixed or immobile.</jats:p>

Remittance Houses and Transnational Citizenship: Mapping Eritrea’s Diaspora–State Relationships

“…In Eritrea, I found a significantly different situation from what is normally described as remittance landscape. Remittance architecture is not as flamboyant as documented in other countries of emigration (Boccagni and Pérez Murcia, 2020;Lopez, 2015;Sinatti, 2009). Except for some neighbourhoods, it is difficult to distinguish emigrants' houses from local ones.…”

“…Before moving on to the analysis of diaspora housing in Eritrea, it is key to define what remittance houses are in the first place. Boccagni and Pérez Murcia (2020) define them as “emigrants’ transnational housing investments in the country of origin.” This is a useful definition – also in the case of Eritrea – as it allows a grasping of the key ingredients of the phenomenon – transnationalism, housing, and migration – while accounting for the variety of forms, locations, functions and dynamics behind these constructions.…”

“…The possibility of acquiring land and building a home on it has historically determined people’s identity. By controlling access to land, the government controls the source of people’s identity and prevents refugees from expressing their belonging and performing their social and political membership in their communities (Boccagni and Pérez Murcia, 2020; Osili, 2004). The word geza in Tigrinya – the most spoken language in the country – refers to the physical general structure of the house as well as to the lineage, the family one belongs to (Hammond, 2004; Smidt, 2007; Tronvoll, 1998).…”

“…The paradox of remittance houses as potential return hubs (Erdal, 2012) is even more evident for younger migrant generations. Here the return is not only unrealisable because emigrants build a life elsewhere (Boccagni and Pérez Murcia, 2020; Erdal, 2012), but also because their citizenship rights were interrupted from the moment they escaped the country and sought asylum against the persecution of the government. From then on, returning forever becomes impossible, as do visits back home, even to say goodbye to a dying relative.…”

“…Migrants, their families, and their communities interact through these houses by arranging construction works, by sending and receiving remittances, and by using these places as sites for marriages, funerals, and other family gatherings. They crystallise feelings, aspirations, and practices connected to the idea of "home" (Boccagni and Pérez Murcia, 2020), belonging (Erdal, 2012) and identity (Leinaweaver, 2009). While all the above aspects have been investigated to a large extent in the literature, less has been said about the role of the state of origin in shaping the possibility for emigrants to have a house back home.…”