Sahelian Transnational Networks and Diasporas

This chapter examines the establishment of Sahelian diasporas in Europe and the United States, their remittances, and the return patterns that have become so important for sending households and communities. Large sums of money are sent by Sahelian migrants to support household budgets that have often come to depend on these remittances. The chapter also addresses the development interventions of hometown associations and other migrant networks that fund community projects and provide social services to their sending communities, and the importance of return migration and its effects on local economies. It examines the sustainability of these vital connections between Sahelian diasporas and their home communities in a context where migration out of the Sahel is increasingly restricted. It concludes with questions about the sustainability of these patterns, given the declining commitment and attachment to place of second- and third-generation migrants.

Hakka migrant hometown associations: Development and social network patterns

This study sought to review the development of Hakka migrant hometown associations and to explore the social network patterns of these associations. To better understand migrant associations in different contexts, research was conducted in various countries or regions. The study examined the relationships between and among associations from an organizational perspective. Using the criteria of density and centralization, the social network patterns are classified into four network types: (1) hierarchical, (2) clique, (3) peer-to-peer, and (4) formative. According to the findings, the network characteristics of different associations enable Hakka associations to flourish in the immigration countries and preserve Hakka culture.

The Returnees

This historical study examines the role that Greek immigrants in the United States played in the economic, social and cultural transformation of their communities of origin between the late 19th century and the outbreak of World War II. It highlights the ways and the means through which, as well as the sectors in and the extent to which, rural populations in Greek villages communicated with their migrant communities and were also influenced by their transatlantic mobility and by economic, material and cultural flows. Drawing on the growing academic literature on “transnational social fields” and “social remittances” it describes the transnational social space which was created between Greek agrarian provinces and American cities through translocal contacts and transborder exchanges maintained by migrants and non-migrants and facilitated by social networks, hometown associations and the technology of the era. The book analyzes systematically the economic, social and cultural impacts of migration in their home communities as well as in the urban cities in which many of the returnees settled. At the same time, it explores the power asymmetries that largely determined the scope of transformations, the negotiation strategies and the ruptures that occurred in the transnational field connecting migrants with non-migrants.

Promoting Health from Outside the State: La Comunidad, Migrants, and Hometown Associations

Migrants and organizational collectives, such as hometown associations (HTAs), have sent remittances to their countries of origin in an attempt to alleviate unmet health care needs. Additionally, migrants will use collective funds to rehabilitating roads; improving sewage systems and water quality; constructing recreational facilities; and refurbishing community buildings. All of these projects contribute to public health. The question explored in this paper is how remittances from abroad potentially contributes to the health of hometown communities. This focus on health and related issues allows for exploring HTA cross-border work as particularly informative in understanding state/society relations. In effect, we bring light to how a migrant transnational social movement can attempt to address health needs in its hometown. The Comparative Immigrant Organization Project (CIOP) is used to answer this question. For this paper, the level of analysis for the CIOP is organizational.

Veri Sunumu: 2016 Yılı İtibarıyla Türkiye’de Hemşehri Dernekleri

Türkiye’de 1950’lilerde başlayan ve artan bir oranda devam eden şehirleşme ile birlikte kır ve kent arası ekonomik kalkınma farklılıkları, kırsal kalkınma alanında özellikle 1980’ler sonrası benimsenen neo-liberal uygulamalar ve refah politikalarındaki zayıflama, beraberinde sivil toplum kuruluşlarının hem kente göç edenlerin kentlerdeki sosyo-ekonomik uyumlarına olumlu etkilerinin hem de katılımcı kırsal dönüşüm ile ilgili rollerinin ön plana çıkmasına sebep olmuştur. Literatürde özellikle ‘hemşehri dernekleri’ gerek uluslararası gerekse iç göç bağlamında göçmenlere ve göç veren bölgelere olan sosyo-ekonomik katkıları sebebiyle konu edilmiştir. Türkiye gibi iç göçün süreklilik gösterdiği bir ülkede ‘kırsal kalkınmanın yeni girişimcileri’ rolünü üstlenen bu kuruluşlara dair veriler ayrıca önem taşımaktadır. Bu çalışma ile Türkiye’deki hemşehri derneklerinin 2016 yılında il bazındaki dağılımlarına dair verinin sunumu ile birlikte Türkiye’de bu derneklere dair yapılan akademik araştırmalar özetlenmektedir. Bu veriler bize kente göç edenlerin sivil toplum kuruluşu bağlamında sahip oldukları sosyal sermaye birikimine dair de bilgi vermektedir.Hometown Associations in Turkey as of 2016Rapid urbanisation and rural-urban development gap as well as neo-liberal and weakened welfare policies give increasing importance to NGOs for their positive impact on socio-economic integration of immigrants and participatory rural transformation. Hometown associations (HTAs), in particular, receive special consideration in the literature. Data on HTAs -considered the new entrepreneurs of rural development- are especially important in Turkey with continuous internal migration. This study presents a literature review of academic research on HTAs in the country and province-level data on the number of these institutions in 2016. Expectedly, HTAs in Turkey are mainly concentrated in cities with highest migrant inflows such as İstanbul, Ankara and Izmir. Highest number of HTAs, however, are established by emigrants from Sivas, Ankara and Erzurum while emigrants from Hakkari, Yalova, Kilis and Şırnak are behind lowest number of HTAs. The presented data also shed light on social capital accumulation of rural-to-urban migrants in the country.