Transnational Development Agency of Migrants: Problematic Aspects of Research on Remittances

The globalisation debate is predominantly dealing with the intensity of the phenomenon and its influences upon the societal, political and economic structures. The neo-liberal perspective of globalisation highlights the spread of a unified global economic system and its increasing influence upon the state. This mono-causal explanation of globalisation unevenly emphasizes the economic background of global processes - including migration. In this sense migrants are seen purely as a labour force, motivated by a desire to increase their income and lower economic risks. The rational analysis of migrant behaviour is also applied upon their remitting activities which are predominantly researched in the quantitative categories of volume or share of GDP. This paper joins the critique of the economy-based quantitative approach which is seen as overly simplifying. It provides the analysis of prevailing scientific investigation on the issues of migration and remittances and introduces alternative qualitative research methods involving the social aspects of remitting such as motivation, targeting or networks of cooperation. In this way the potential for understanding the developmental consequences of remittances is extended; enabling wider understanding of the complex networks created in the processes of global migration.