Migrants As “Actors of Development” in Their Countries of Origin: Meanings and Practices of Transnational Solidarity Among Senegalese Associations in Tuscany

Senegalese migration is characterized by strong ties with the motherland, as evidenced by the extent of remittances and the propensity for associationism as “actors of development” in the contexts of origin. The paper analyzes how the sense of belonging, marked by the continuous tension between the “myth of return” and “dual presence”, defines the solidarity practices of the Senegalese migrant, where translocality (places where mobile subjects are locally rooted) may offer new analytical perspectives on the transnational characteristics of everyday life.

The analyses are based on ethnographic research conducted in Tuscany. The first part of the paper presents four forms of solidarity (religious, village, secular-multiethnic, and cooperative) promoted by Senegalese organizations. The focus will be on the characteristics of the actors involved: “material and social capital available”, “formal or informal level of actions” and “organisational skills or technical knowledge as agents of co-development”. The second part explores the meanings and “scripts” underlying these practices of transnational solidarity. The main aim is to identify how these forms of engagement fit within “moral economies of belonging”, which regulate relationships with the inhabitants of migrants’ origin places, allowing for their reinterpretation through the dichotomy between “moral obligation/sacrifice” versus “responsibility/opportunity. The analysis will focus on the connections between multiple configurations of belonging to the original identity and the ongoing redefinition of the tension between “myth of return” and “double presence” in Senegalese culture. Here, translocalities will offer new analytical perspectives, considering the evolution of transnational and temporary return circuits. Furthermore, the analyses will cover both material and monetary remittances, as well as social remittances – understood as “ideas, identities, practices, social capital”.

This paper is part of PRIN 2020 Project “Migrant remittances and transnational ties: care, social change and development across borders” [MIGREM], funded by the Italian Ministry of University and Research (Prot. 2020H2EHFZ).