Migrants’ Remittance-induced Identity Reconstruction and Development: The Case of Bangladesh

Abstract

Migration literature confirms the development impacts of remittances on households, communities and nations of migrants’ source countries. However, the impacts of remittances on community development through the reconstruction in social identities of migrants and their household members are still under-examined, especially in the context of Bangladesh. This aspect can provide an important insight into the evolving dynamics of remittance-induced infrastructure development at the household and community levels. In order to explore this, a research was conducted in 2023, which included a baseline survey of 157 households and applied extended case method (ECM) to gather narratives of 15 migrants along with their household members, 5 key informants and 2 administrative officials. The results indicate that migrants and their household members and non-migrant villagers of Sukpur, the study village in Sylhet district, have reconstructed their existing social identities by spending remittances on different infrastructural development at the household level, such as the construction of large luxury residences and ornate gates, connecting roads to households’ premises as well as on community infrastructure development activities, such as bridges, roads, educational and prayer institutions, and entombment places. Based on the key findings, this article suggests several policies to encourage migrants and their families and the government to use remittances for community development.