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Circulating Practices: Migration and Translocal Development in Washington D.C. and Cochabamba, Bolivia

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  • Christopher Strunk

    (Department of Geography, Augustana College, 639 38th Street, Rock Island, IL 61201, USA)

Abstract

Migrant remittances are increasingly seen as a potential form of development in the global South, but the impact of international migration on sending regions is far from straightforward. In this article, I analyze migrant communities of origin in rural Bolivia as dynamic places that are constantly reproduced through connections with other places. I document the movement of migrant practices between Washington D.C. and Cochabamba and the influence of monetary and non-monetary flows on Bolivian cultural practices, politics, and development. I demonstrate how hometown associations and returning migrants have transferred organizational practices and political ideas about development from the United States to rural Bolivia. In addition, I explore migration’s role in struggles over belonging in Cochabamba, focusing on the efforts by migrants in Washington D.C. to stake their claim through transnational houses and collective remittance projects and on recent internal migration from other regions in Bolivia. Finally, I assess the sustainability of migrant-led development in Cochabamba. Although collaboration with migrants can strengthen the local state by providing more resources, it conditions the type of development that can take place and has yet to provide adequate opportunities for returning migrants or young people in rural Bolivia.

Suggested Citation

  • Christopher Strunk, 2013. "Circulating Practices: Migration and Translocal Development in Washington D.C. and Cochabamba, Bolivia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 5(10), pages 1-18, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:5:y:2013:i:10:p:4106-4123:d:29045
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Richard C. Jones, 1998. "Remittances and Inequality: A Question of Migration Stage and Geographic Scale," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 74(1), pages 8-25, January.
    2. Thomas Perreault, 2005. "State Restructuring and the Scale Politics of Rural Water Governance in Bolivia," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 37(2), pages 263-284, February.
    3. Benjamin Kohl, 2003. "Restructuring Citizenship in Bolivia: El Plan de Todos," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(2), pages 337-351, June.
    4. Michael Peter Smith, 2003. "Transnationalism, the State, and the Extraterritorial Citizen," Politics & Society, , vol. 31(4), pages 467-502, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Chengfeng Yang & Huiran Han & Jinping Song, 2014. "Spatial Distribution of Migration and Economic Development: A Case Study of Sichuan Province, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(10), pages 1-20, September.

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