Social remittances during COVID-19: on the “new normality” negotiated by transnational families

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.

Exploring Social Remittances and Transnational Activism Amongst Transgender Refugees

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.

From the United States to Rural Europe: The New Immigration, Homecoming Migrants, and Social Remittances in Hungary

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.

Transnational Social Resilience in La Costa Region of Chiapas, Mexico

This paper tells the story of how a group of fishermen became resilient in response to a community crisis in their village caused by the depletion of shrimp stocks, and how they are building transnational social resilience through the creation and operation of an Ecotourist resort to improve their lives, and insure their future well-being. Social change is taking place in some communities in the La Costa region of Chiapas, one of the most impoverished states in Mexico, where people opted to emigrate to the US and came back charged with individual and collective social remittances, and new personal narratives which have helped them and their community adapt and change while constructing transnational lives. The development of El Centro Turístico El Madresal in Ponte Duro, Chiapas, provides an informative case study in how to use the tools of social resilience conceptualization within a transnational context.

„Grįžti, kad sukurtum pokytį“: sugrįžusiųjų iš migracijos socialinės perlaidos ir jų perdavimas

‘Returning to Make a Change‘: Social Remittances of Return Migration and their Transfer 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. Key words: social remittances, returnees, social change, migrational experience, transfer process.