Codevelopment and citizenship: the nexus between policies on local migrant incorporation and migrant transnational practices in Spain

Abstract

Over the last decade both national and local actors in Spain have picked up on international trends encouraging a policy framework of migration and development. Policies of codevelopment are tied in with issues of migration management in the sense of linking current and future migration flows with processes of development in the country of origin. However, this article demonstrates how codevelopment policies and initiatives of local governments in Catalonia also relate to migrants’ local process of incorporation in their country of residence. In so doing the article seeks to bridge and contribute to studies of migration and development as well as issues of national and local citizenship and migrant incorporation. Importantly, the article highlights the role of receiving country local governments in the nexus between migrant transnational practices and processes of incorporation

Translocal Activities of Local Governments and Migrant Organizations

“…First, stimulating integration and strengthening social cohesion in response to increased heterogeneity were important reasons for European municipalities to start cooperating with migrant origin countries (Schep et al 1995 ;Shuman 1994 ;Van Ewijk 2013 ;Østergaard-Nielsen 2011 ). Bilgili and Agimi ( 2015 ) argue that integration has consistently been a goal for German municipalities to start cooperation with origin countries, although it is not always explicitly addressed.…”

“…A group of Moroccan municipalities, for instance, took the lead in seeking cooperation with Dutch local governments through the Association of Dutch Municipalities (Van Ewijk 2013 ). Most West European municipalities already had experience with international cooperation that they could build on, and linking with migrant source countries was a logical next step (Østergaard-Nielsen 2011 ;Van Ewijk 2013 ). Budget cuts and fragile political and public support for international cooperation meant that some municipalities were seeking ways to benefi t from international cooperation.…”

“…The bulk of the literature on transnational practices focuses on either the macro level, such as the policies of sending countries (see Østergaard-Nielsen in this volume;Østergaard-Nielsen 2011 ), or the micro level, for example, the remittance behaviour of individual migrants and the impact of remittances on countries of origin (see Mügge in this volume). So far, few researchers have looked specifi cally at the meso level.…”

“…So far, few researchers have looked specifi cally at the meso level. Those who have done so have mainly focused on the linkages of US-based migrant organizations (e.g., Mexican hometown associations) with Latin America (Fauser 2007 ;Østergaard-Nielsen 2011 ).…”

Private money, public scrutiny? Contrasting perspectives on remittances

“…Arguably, the assumption that remittances and integration necessarily detract from one another makes it difficult to see the two as parallel processes that may or may not interact in a number of different ways (Oeppen 2009). Sending remittances may strengthen or weaken the structural integration of individual migrants, or may have no effect on the integration process at all.…”