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THE EARLY MORNING PHONECALL
Somali Refugees' Remittances
Anna Lindley
ISBN 978-1-84545-644-3 Hb $70.00/£41.00 Published (August 2010)
eISBN 978-1-84545-832-4
“Lindley’s book negotiates the complexities and captures the ambiguities that define life in the diaspora, the role of remittances, the rise of a transnational identity, and the realities of people living in Somalia and beyond. I would hope that [it] finds a large audience. Lindley’s style as well as her experience with and strong knowledge of the region make for an excellent study that should find a home in classes focused on migration, remittance practices, development, and African Studies.” · Anthropological Quarterly
"Anna Lindley's new book is a welcome addition to the study of transnational remittances and their critical role in the lives of ordinary residents of war-torn Somalia. This work counters popular images of Somalis as thieving pirates, unscrupulous money launderers and vicious war mongers, by showing how remittances allow ordinary and peaceful Somali families cope with extraordinarily difficult circumstances. Anna Lindley has done a great service to scholars of the Horn of Africa, reminding readers that the protracted crisis in Somalia and its global remittance industry defy simplistic, ‘knee jerk’ explanations." · Peter D. Little, Professor of Anthropology and Director, Development Studies Program, Emory University (author of Somalia: Economy without State)
“Migrant workers’ money transfers home are usually the stuff of World Bank statistics. Anna Lindley tells the human stories behind the data, and examines the relationships between people trying to survive the daily insecurity of a failed state and those who have escaped. Yet she never forgets the political economy of global inequality, which lies behind the heart-wrenching decisions that refugees and migrants have to make. This book is a remarkable combination of social analysis and story-telling, which should (but won’t) be read by everyone who ever fell for the headlines about asylum seekers as a threat.” · Stephen Castles, University of Sydney
“This is an interesting, humane, thoughtful and well-written account of Somali remittances, a topic that has been discussed to some extent but never in such a detailed way. It addresses current debates and policy interests in the field of migration-development very well. Lindley's data on remittances in conflict-affected areas is remarkably detailed and rich, while her multi-sited fieldwork approach provides an excellent insight into the complexities of engaging in transnational livelihoods for all those involved.” · Cindy Horst, Senior Researcher, International Peace Research Institute Oslo
As migration from poverty-stricken and conflict-affected countries continues to hit the headlines, this book focuses on an important counter-flow: the money that people send home. Despite considerable research on the impact of migration and remittances in countries of origin - increasingly viewed as a source of development capital - still little is known about refugees’ remittances to conflict-affected countries because such funds are most often seen as a source of conflict finance. This book explores the dynamics, infrastructure, and far-reaching effects of remittances from the perspectives of people in the Somali regions and the diaspora. With conflict driving mass displacement, Somali society has become progressively transnational, its vigorous remittance economy reaching from the heart of the global North into wrecked cities, refugee camps, and remote rural areas. By ‘following the money’ the author opens a window on the everyday lives of people caught up in processes of conflict, migration, and development. The book demonstrates how, in the interstices of state disruption and globalisation, and in the shadow of violence and political uncertainty, life in the Somali regions goes on, subject to complex transnational forms of social, economic, and political innovation and change.
Anna Lindley is a Lecturer in Development Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. The study on which this book is based was carried out while working at the Centre on Migration, Policy and Society and the Refugee Studies Centre at Oxford University.
Series: Volume 28, Forced Migration
LC: HG3983.2.L56 2010
BISAC: SOC007000 SOCIAL SCIENCE/Emigration & ImmigrationContents
List of Illustrations and Tables
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
Chapter 1. Migration, Conflict and Development: Situating Refugees’ Remittances
Migration-Development Linkages
Conflict and Local-Global Connections
The Livelihoods of Refugees
Approach
Chapter 2. The Somali Context: People and Money on the Move
Nomadism, Sedentarism, Urbanisation
Extra-regional Connections
Postcolonial Republic: Refugee Arrivals, Labour Migrants and Political Exiles
Civil War and Diasporisation
Feedback: a Wartime Remittance Economy
Xawilaad: Crisis as a Business Opportunity
From ‘Dirty Money’ to ‘Humanitarian Lifeline’?
Beyond Collapse: Grasping Continuities and Change
Chapter 3. Migration and Remittances in a Precarious State: the View from Hargeisa
Oppression, Insurgency and Crisis: Diaspora Dimensions
From Translocal to Transnational Families
Coping in a Tough Economy
Investing Diaspora Capital
Following the Money into the Wider Community
The Diaspora in Post-Conflict Politics and Development
Beyond Complacency: Migration-Conflict-Development Contingencies
Chapter 4. Traffic at a Global Crossroads: Eastleigh, Nairobi
From the Northern Frontier to New Horizons in Nairobi
Remittance Traffic, Mobility and Strategic Households
Going into Business
A Global Crossroads
Beyond Categories: Making a Living, Circulation and Containment
Chapter 5. The North-South Divide in Everyday Life: Londoners Sending Money ‘Home’
Seeking Asylum
Settling in a Global City
Who Pays the Biil?
The Social Micro-dynamics of Remittances
Economic Sacrifices and Strategies, Social Reaffirmation and Tensions
Beyond Economics: the Violent Origins and Social Texture of Remitting
Chapter 6. Concluding Reflections
Glossary
References
Index