Author:

Keywords:

Remittances, Senegal

Abstract:

This research examines the surplus that Senegalese migrants realize in the country of arrival (Belgium) and that they transfer under the form of financial capital, goods and knowledge in one way or another to (close) family members in their country of origin (Senegal). In this study, these transfers are referred to as remittances. When the emphasis is being laid on the motives for sending remittances, the expectations of the household, the purpose for which remittances are used and the amount of remittances, the term practices of remittances is used. These practices of remittances are being studied from a sociological, transnational and multi-sited framework. The sociological framework is based on the structurationtheory and the praxis model of Bourdieu, whereby practices (in this case practices of remittances) are being conceived as the result of the interactions between individual and structural factors. Bourdieu uses therefore the intermediate concepts of habitus, capital and field. Each of these concepts responds in their specific way to the ultimate practices of remittances. The transnational framework is used because practices of remittances are by definition transnational practices which connects people and places. Migrants are emotionally connected to both, place of origin and place of destination and they live thereby in a fragmented social space. Transfers make an important bridge between this dichotomy. Practices of remittances are, following Sassen, studied as ‘emplaced’. This means that the emphasis is on the fact that practices of remittances are the result of the specificity of the place where remittances are being accumulated (by the migrant in Belgium) and spent (by the household in Senegal) on the one hand, and the result of the relationship between both on the other hand. This principle requires a multi-sited research methodology: the research is conducted by both Senegalese migrants in Belgium and by their respective households in Senegal. In this way practices of remittances are examined from location of departure and arrival and can thereby be studied from a single space that connects origin with destination. Based on qualitative fieldwork among Senegalese migrants in Belgium (n = 54) and their related households in Senegal (n = 43), we can conclude that: Senegalese migration to Belgium is a recent migration, with migrants mainly originative from urban households. Within the Belgian context, it became clear that migrants take specific positions in the Belgian society which influences in an important way their final practices of remittances. The accumulation of capital within specific fields in the Belgian society (the labor market, education, housing market, health care, social networks) and the means of the habitus have a specific influence on the final practices of remittances of migrants. The specific accumulation of capital has also an important influence on the motives and value patterns that form the basis of the final practices. In the Senegalese context, it became clear that the participation of Senegalese households in has an important influence on the expectations towards remittances. Their degree of participation and integration within the Senegalese society also determines the use of these remittances.By connecting the migrant and his household it became clear that the final practices of remittances are the result of a subtle interaction between both positions. The migrant makes decisions in function of its own participation in Belgian society and in function of the participation of his household in Senegal. The accumulation, exchange and conversion of different forms of capital (not only economic capital) are thereby important.