eCite Digital Repository
Remittances and social resilience of migrant households in rural Bangladesh
Citation
Sikder, MJU and Higgins, V, Remittances and social resilience of migrant households in rural Bangladesh, Migration and Development, 6, (2) pp. 253-275. ISSN 2163-2324 (2017) [Refereed Article]
Copyright Statement
Copyright 2016 Informa UK, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
DOI: doi:10.1080/21632324.2016.1142752
Abstract
Remittances from migration have significant impacts on economic livelihoods in
developing countries. Yet, to date, scholars have paid little attention to the broader
ways in which migrant remittances enable rural households to improve their capacity
to respond and adapt to economic as well as environmental challenges. This paper
draws upon ‘social resilience’ as a conceptual tool to investigate how monetary
remittances are used by households to enhance their ability to respond to challenges,
build economic, human and cultural capital, and plan for the future. Using data from
a qualitative study of rural migrant households in Bangladesh, we provide an analysis
of how different strategies for investing internal and international remittances contribute
to household social resilience. Our analysis reveals that remittances in general
contribute to improving the social resilience of migrant households. Remittances are
important in building economic capital through accessing land for agricultural production
as well as housing construction. Remittances also enable households to
access education, and thus build their human capital. Nevertheless, the paper reveals
an important gender dimension in the choice of investment strategies. Female-headed
households tend to invest remittances in human capital, and such strategies may contribute
to the reinforcement of existing gender inequalities and do little to improve
resilience
Item Details
Item Type: | Refereed Article |
---|---|
Keywords: | Migration; remittances; rural households; social resilience; Bangladesh |
Research Division: | Human Society |
Research Group: | Sociology |
Research Field: | Sociology not elsewhere classified |
Objective Division: | Expanding Knowledge |
Objective Group: | Expanding knowledge |
Objective Field: | Expanding knowledge in human society |
UTAS Author: | Higgins, V (Associate Professor Vaughan Higgins) |
ID Code: | 124673 |
Year Published: | 2017 |
Deposited By: | Office of the School of Social Sciences |
Deposited On: | 2018-03-04 |
Last Modified: | 2018-08-28 |
Downloads: | 0 |
Repository Staff Only: item control page