The Migration and Development Nexus: Gender Insights

Research on development and migration has mostly stemmed from an economic concern (assessing the volume, cost and contribution of remittances to the local development), largely overlooking women and gender issues. The New Economics of Labour Migration (NELM), the transnational paradigm and the livelihood approaches are known to have enlarged the scope of the migration and development nexus (Haas 2010). One aim of our paper is to review how gender studies have also contributed to the shifts in the debate on migration and development and how gender issues have been incorporated.

         On the other hand, over the last decade, abundant literature relating to the globalization of social reproduction (the so-called ‘global care chains’) has helped to make the issue of migrant women more visible. This literature has tended to highlight women’s crucial contribution to transnational reproductive labor (Hochschild 2000). However, it largely fails to capture the articulation of productive and reproductive strategies. This paper defends the necessity of rethinking the migration and development nexus according to the articulation of transnational households’ productive and reproductive strategies.

         We will review the literature on migrations, women/gender and development. Then, on the basis of case studies, we will assess to what extent do migrants’ productive and reproductive strategies (care and remittances, saving and consuming, housing, health and education) determine the gender relations and the social mobility of migrant household members.

Haas, H. de (2010): “Migration and Development: A Theoretical Perspective”. International Migration Review, 44(1): 227-264.

Hochschild, A. R. (2000): “Global care Chains and Emotional Surplus Value”, in: Hutton, W.; Giddens, A. (eds.): On the Edge: Living with Global Capitalism, New York: Free Press.