engleski

Potentials (un-) leashed: a critical review of change agency in remigration processes.

Qualitative research of remigration and its impact on socio-cultural, political and economic transformation processes is often been framed by the “migration and development nexus”. I am seeking to scrutinize such framing by looking into transformative potentials of social and cultural remittances in every-day practice of remigrants who engage in diverse professional / work contexts (i.e. academia, private business, the NGO-sector). The post- communist transition environments in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe like other historical settings where political system change took place bear countless stories of – self-assumed or assigned - expectations of change agency attached to remigration. In my contribution I comparatively discuss experiences from Lithuania, Romania, Eastern Germany (former GDR), Poland and Croatia in transition, and specifically after accession to the European Union, based on qualitative research. I am addressing the precarious relationship between intentions and actual experience by looking into the role of networks and social capital, chances and obstacles for social and cultural remittances, and by identifying strategies to open-up spaces for change agency. All contexts provide experiential insights into the migration and development nexus, and they raise the question of change agency in the context of remigration. In this light, the sustainability of policies and programs which are to support social and cultural remittances / transfers by fostering remigration throughout the entire Central, Eastern and Southeast European region shall be critically discussed.

Remigration, transition society, transformation change agency, social / cultural remittances

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