Transnational Labour Migration, Remittances and the Changing Family in Asia

The authors investigate the inter-relationships between migrant remittances and the family in Asia. By treating remittances not simply as economic activities but as complex and nuanced transnational processes that embody values and relations transcending national boundaries, they reveal how remittances reconstitute the family structures and relations in which these are embedded. The focus of the research is on 'transient' low-waged labourers whose circular mobility entails unique sets of meanings and expectations. The contributors argue that, in the context of Asian transnational labour migration where remittances tend to become a primary currency of care, the making or breaking of the family unit is essentially contingent on how individuals handle remittance processes. The case studies featured in this edited collection enrich our thinking about migrant remittances as a major driver of social change and at the same time bring up important questions about meanings and purpose of the family in an increasingly mobile world.

Lan Anh Hoang is Lecturer in Development Studies at the School of Social and Political Sciences, the University of Melbourne, Australia. Her main research interests include migration and transnationalism, sexuality and gender, social networks and identity, children and family. She has 10 years of research experience in Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore, Taiwan and Russia.

Brenda S. A. Yeoh is Professor (Provost's Chair) at the Department of Geography, as well as Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, National University of Singapore (NUS). She is also the Research Leader of the Asian Migration Cluster at the Asia Research Institute, NUS. Her research interests include the politics of space in colonial and postcolonial cities, and she has conducted wide-ranging research on migration in Asia.