Love for the Land: Remittances and Care in a Nicaraguan Transnational Community

Abstract

Despite renewed interest in Central American migration, little attention has been devoted to understanding the diversity of migration pathways within the region. This article explores the tensions in the complicated connections between migration, land, consumption, and love in the case of migration between Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Based on interviews and ethnographic observations with members of transnational families in Achuapa, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, I examine how migrants and nonmigrants talk about remittances to make arguments about both abandonment and connection-that is, love for the land and people. Houses and land mediate local understandings of both the absence and presence of migrants in Achuapa. However, those who send and receive remittances, women and men, and young people and old all understand the relationships between migration and care or abandonment differently. At the community level, discourses around remittances tie in to nation-building projects through the resurgence of revolutionary discourses of solidarity under the Sandinistas. In this context, migration has become a new way for poor Nicaraguans to participate in the global economy and care for loved ones, even as it threatens nationalist longings for solidarity.A pesar de una renovación de interés en la migración centroamericana, se ha dedicado poca atención a la diversidad de flujos migratorios dentro de la región. Este artículo examina las tensiones entre la migración, la tierra, el consumo y el amor en el caso de la migración entre Nicaragua y Costa Rica. Basado en entrevistas y observaciones etnográficas en Achuapa, Nicaragua y Costa Rica, se examina como los y las migrantes y personas no-migrantes hablan sobre las remesas en discusiones sobre el abandono y la conexión-es decir, el amor por la tierra y las personas. Las casas y la tierra median el entendimiento de la ausencia y presencia de los y las migrantes en Achuapa. Sin embargo, los que envían y los que reciben remesas, las mujeres y los hombres, las personas jóvenes y las viejas entienden la relación entre la migración, el amor y el abandono de manera diferente. Al nivel de la comunidad, los discursos sobre las remesas se vinculan con proyectos sandinistas y nacionalistas a través del idioma de la solidaridad. En este contexto, la migración se ha vuelto al mismo tiempo una nueva manera para que los nicaragüenses pobres participen en la economía global y cuiden a sus seres queridos, y una amenaza a los deseos nacionalistas de solidaridad.

Planning to Go Back Home Because of the Economic Crisis? Evidence from the Short-Term Return Intentions of Bolivian Migrants in Spain

“…Parents in Bolivia are typically those who manage the remittances of Bolivian immigrants, and at the same time, the parents' role is statistically associated with a higher probability of return intentions. As pointed out by other studies, although migration requires separation, it is part of a strategy for maintaining a "home" and represents a form of caring for both people and property (Fouratt 2017). Table 2 shows the results of regression models for short-term return intentions.…”

The Cost of “A Better Life”: Children Left Behind—Beyond Ambiguous Loss

“…In Latin American countries, transnational families maintain their emotional responsibilities, such as mothering from afar (Schmalzbauer, 2004). Despite reconfigurations, Carling and et al (2012) have contended that children are paying the price of economic development as recent research has suggested that there may be another side for those left behind (Fouratt, 2017; Pratt, 2016). In Central America specifically, parental migration is creating a new vulnerability for young people in terms of social and gang violence (Cantor, 2014).…”

“…Further, those leaving and those left behind may have different views on a “better life” and remittances as a driver. For example, mothers often associate remittances with caregiving and idealize their relationship with their children (Schmalzbauer, 2004), while Fouratt (2017) and Carling and et al (2012) found that receivers experience feelings of abandonment, especially toward mothers. Parreñas, (2005) found that children have a difficult time developing emotional attachments to their caregivers and their parents, leading to poor psychosocial outcomes.…”

Rethinking remittance: The socioeconomic dynamics of giving for migrants and nonmigrants

“…Remittances, small and large, follow direct and indirect pathways (Fouratt 2017). The direct economic effects of remittances—the role they play in supporting household maintenance, for example—may appear easy to identify (e.g., see Huennekes 2018).…”