Social Remittances: Migration Driven Local-Level Forms of Cultural Diffusion

TLDR

Social remittances, defined as ideas, behaviors, identities, and social capital flowing from receiving to sending communities, are widely recognized for fostering immigrant entrepreneurship, community and family formation, and political integration, exemplifying macro‑level cultural diffusion. The study investigates how social remittances are remolded in receiving countries, the mechanisms by which they are sent back to sending communities, and their impact on transforming sending‑country social and political life. Using data on Dominican Republic migrants in the Boston area, the authors examine the processes by which social remittances are reshaped in receiving communities and transmitted back to sending communities, shaping social and political dynamics.

Abstract

"Many studies highlight the macro-level dissemination of global culture and institutions. This article focuses on social remittances--a local-level, migration-driven form of cultural diffusion. Social remittances are the ideas, behaviors, identities, and social capital that flow from receiving- to sending-country communities. The role that these resources play in promoting immigrant entrepreneurship, community and family formation, and political integration is widely acknowledged. This article specifies how these same ideas and practices are remolded in receiving countries, the mechanisms by which they are sent back to sending communities, and the role they play in transforming sending-country social and political life.\" The data concern migrants from the Dominican Republic to the Boston area of the United States.