Poorer households usually maneuver various types of capital in patterned social relations and ties to get access to employment abroad. Taking rural Bangladesh as a case, the article demonstrates that local networks of informal agents and kin constitute different forms of social capital, as a way of releasing cash and enabling the migration of rural Bangladeshis who otherwise lack the resources to migrate. While relying on social capital triggers and supports poor people's lives and livelihoods by ensuring access to migration, it also reinforces and reproduces the hierarchy and obligation, precluding their choices and investment in the future. Highlighting these paradoxes, the article contributes to the critical discussion on the role of social networks and social capital for migration.
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