The Centre on Migration, Remittances and Diaspora (CIMRAD), Lahore School of Economics organized first of its kind international conference on “Social Remittances and Social Change: Links between Home and Host Countries”
Dr. Peggy Levitt, renowned sociologist and pioneer of the term “social remittances” was the keynote speaker at the event. Dr. Ishrat Hussain, former Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan and Adviser to the Prime Minister on Institutional Reforms and Austerity shared his comments as the Chief Guest at the opening of the conference. Dr. Shahid Amjad Chahudhry, Rector, Lahore School of Economics gave the welcome address.
Going beyond financial remittances, the theme of social remittances taps into the ideas, values, beliefs, behaviors and culture of the host country that migrants get exposed to and over time may adopt and transmit back to their home country. Cultural diffusion is a two-way process; migrants bring along with them their cultural norms, social, philosophical, political and religious ideas and beliefs as well to the host country, which can potentially transform the community life there. Limited research has been conducted on the subject at national and global level, but progress is being made. With a total stock of 8.4 million overseas Pakistanis, the topic has far ranging implications for Pakistan’s society in social and spill over economic terms. In this regard, the conference provided a platform to encourage research on the subject in the country and internationally.
Dr. Peggy Levitt, Chair of Sociology Department, Wellesley College, US, in her keynote address talked about cultural globalization and the role of technological advancements. Where once the exchange of ideas was limited to occasional home visits by migrants, family members are now able to be a part of each other’s lives virtually on daily basis. Having studied migrant communities in Boston from Brazil, Ireland, Pakistan, and India, she reflected that for migrants over time, there is a growing disjuncture between how they perceived their home country and how it may have actually evolved. She termed it the “ossification effect”, where the home country is “frozen in time” in the migrants’ minds, while actually it has changed rapidly. She elaborated that age plays a role in the extent of compatibility and adaptability as migrants move. People who are able to spend more time in their home country and build strong social networks prior to migrating, are better able to implement their new ideas and practices in the home country. In comparison, those who go at an early age, not only found it more challenging to put through their ideas, but in some cases even struggled to understand the social rules necessary to get their ideas across.
Dr. Ishrat Hussain in his comments emphasised that as a developing country, Pakistan based research in any field must link with the implications for poverty alleviation and human development. Weighing in on the recently re-emerged brain drain debate from Pakistan, he asserted it was an opportunity for Pakistani migrants to acquire new skills from host markets. Besides technical skills, social remittances in form of efficiency enhancing practices, principles and values can also contribute to increasing productivity of our local market and can even be exported to other migration destinations. Given the structure of Pakistani society however, he highlighted there seems to be a reverse pattern, where instead of bringing in change, there has been a trend in re-adoption of local ineffective practices, signalling negative social remittances.
The two-day event was organised into two sessions per days, where international participants presented their papers, following by an in-depth discussion and feedback from renowned migration researchers and experts.
Dr. Rashid Amjad, Director Graduate Institute of Development Studies and CIMRAD, in his concluding remarks stated that economic analysis dominates the research field and there emphasis on quantification and measurement, however this framework is limited in its ability to incorporate the nuances of social life, that are more challenging to quantify. The academic community from different areas of research must come together to explore methodological innovations in research on social remittances.