ABSTRACT
Human mobility reshapes contemporary societies, also by contributing to the circulation of ways of speaking, ways of doing, and ways of thinking along migratory paths. Calling attention to the societal implications of international migration (Levitt 1998, 2001), the concept of social remittances emphasised that, along with material resources (money and goods), migrants participate in the circulation of immaterial resources (knowledge and know-how, ideas and practices) between their home and host societies.
The concept of social remittances opened a new subfield, illustrating the interdisciplinary nature of migration studies. To be sure, the broad array of phenomena it sought to encompass can, and should, be questioned. However, this concept triggered a welcomed shift in research focus from the economic to the socio-political implications of human mobility. By providing migration scholars with a terminology and a space in which to discuss the non-economic consequences of transnational mobility, the concept of social remittances flagged a new area of inquiry. Debates triggered by this helped refine the methodological and conceptual approach to transnational social change and arguably advanced our understanding of the implications of human mobility. In this respect, the notion of ‘social remittances’ stimulated the collective sociological imagination.
