Migrants as Agents of Change

"A topical book on the "soft modernisation" of a post-communist society through migratory social remittances. The authors observe very carefully what people bring back beyond money to their sending local communities, and how these novelties are adopted, disseminated or resisted. It is an invaluable contribution to all theorists and practitioners of social change. Thanks to its transnational and longitudinal approach it is one of the most valuable qualitative in-depth study on migrants and their local communities I have recently read." (Marek Okolski, University of Warsaw and SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Poland) "In a world in which sending governments look increasingly to emigrants' economic and social contributions, this book is an invaluable guide to how and when innovation, or resistance to it, occur." (Peggy Levitt, Wellesley College and Harvard University, USA) "This book makes a ground-breaking contribution to the literature on social remittances and migrant agency." (Anne White, University College London, UK) "Using rich multi-sited ethnography, this book offers fascinating insights into the opportunities, resistances and processes of social remittances." (Louise Ryan, Middlesex University, UK)

Whilst the circulation of ideas, norms and practices is an important aspect of modernity, acts of resistance, imitation and innovation mean that whilst some migrants become ordinary agents of social change in their local microcosms, others may contest that change.This book offers a unique and innovative way of looking at the paradoxical consequences of human mobility. Based on a three-year transnational multi-sited longitudinal research project, it demonstrates that not all migrants acquire, transfer and implement social remittances in the same way. Whilst the circulation of ideas, norms and practices is an important aspect of modernity, acts of resistance, imitation and innovation mean that whilst some migrants become ordinary agents of social change in their local microcosms, others may contest that change. By putting this individual agency centre stage, the authors trace how social remittances are evolving, and the ambiguous impact that they have on society. This thought-provoking work will appeal to students and scholars of sociology, geography and anthropology.