Gendered translocal connectedness: Rural–urban migration, remittances, and social resilience in Thailand

Abstract

Remittances play a central role in debates on migration and development as well as migration as adaptation to climate change. We seek to contribute to the growing body of literature that addresses the role of gender relations for remittance sending and usage. Based on multisited qualitative research on rural-urban migration in Thailand, we apply the concept of translocal social resilience to expound the multilocal and intersectional dimension of remittances and their impact on social resilience.Building on typical constellations of remittance transfer and usage, the paper accentuates how gender, generational relations, and the household's socio-economic status shape remittance practices and their effects on social resilience across space. We can thus conclude that addressing intersecting socio-spatial levels and axes of difference enhances the understanding of remittance potentials for resilience, which also enriches research that frames migration as a means of adaptation.

‘Implicit’ remittances in family relationships: The case of Bangladeshis in Italy and beyond

“…This entails that the person assigned to their sending is the first migrant (and applicant for family reunification) and that the subject entitled to receive them is his family of origin left behind. This recalls what has already been observed in the literature for other nationalities of migrants (King et al., 2006; Porst & Sakdapolrak, 2020). But we will also examine how remittances of a nature different from immediately economic ones work.…”

“…This recalls what has already been observed in the literature for other nationalities of migrants (King et al, 2006;Porst & Sakdapolrak, 2020). But we will also examine how remittances of a nature different from immediately economic ones work.…”

“…Furthermore, recent studies have highlighted how gender intersects with other axes of social differentiation, such as age, generational relations, ethnicity, position in the life cycle, education, and especially social class (Singh, 2018). Porst and Sakdapolrak (2020), in particular, have shown how these aspects shape remittance practices and their effects on social resilience both for families left behind and for the migrants themselves. Typically, ‘if the socio‐economic status of a household allows, both migrating sons and daughters face less strict expectations in terms of remittance‐based support to the family’ (Porst & Sakdapolrak, 2020, p. 9).…”

“…If in the former case it is tangible evidence of an affective relationship that cannot be weakened by distance and separation, in the latter it would be a form of humiliation (Carling, 2014). Therefore, if we read Azeez's words from an intersectional and translocal perspective, it is possible to observe how remittances constitute a practice contextualized in time, space (Paerregaard, 2015), within gender relations and the family cycle (Porst & Sakdapolrak, 2020) and how this positioning shapes their meanings and values (Page & Mercer, 2012).…”

“…Now, in the biographical transition from children to adult breadwinners (Della Puppa, 2014), they believe they have to pay this moral debt through transnational care that is expressed (also) through the economic dimension (Singh et al., 2010, 2012). However, this moral obligation falls only on male emigrated sons (King et al., 2006, 2013; Porst & Sakdapolrak, 2020): the daughters are exempted from this duty. Consequently, as the words of Jahan and Malik show, the recipient family of the remittances is the family of origin of the first‐migrant husband – who ‘acquires’ through marriage a new female member, as will be shown below – and not that of the reunited wife:

No, not to my wife's family, because two of her brothers are living in America and they send money to their parents, that is, my wife's parents.

…”