Remittances as a Medium of Relationship and Belonging

Abstract

People who have migrated with their families from the Indian diaspora to Australia send money home as one way of continuing relationship with their transnational families and communities. Sending money home to the family goes beyond responding to financial need, for remittances are alsQ one of the markers of continued belonging to the family. Our paper draws on the first stage of our qualitative research on remittances. It is based on participant observation and open-ended interviews of 19 middle-income direct and multiple migrants from the Indian diaspora in Australia. When the nuclear family migrates together, we find that family boundaries narrow and the bonds with the extended family become progressively diluted, despite communication and a flow of money. The sense of belonging to the family gets tested with inheritance. In our sample, women, as in India, continue to cede their claims to their brothers. We found that even some men did not claim their inheritance. Our paper contributes to the literature on remittances and the transnational family by focusing on money as a medium of family relationship and care. The study privileges the perspective of direct and multiple migrants, compared with most of the economic literature that emphasises the impact of remittances on the recipients. By connecting money, family, care and belonging, we connect the economic and social study of remittances.