Unravelling migrants as transnational agents of development

Since the early 2000s there has been increased interest in, and indeed enthusiasm about, international migration as a central mechanism to advance what is called the development potential of international migrants. The contributions to this book argue that the current enthusiasm about the migration-development nexus should be approached from a perspective that recognises and critically appraises the emergence of a new agent in development discourse, variably called „migrants“, „diaspora“, or „transnational community“. The essays, which are the result of intensive student research at Bielefeld University as part of its pre-dissertation research training in the Department of Sociology, depart from issues raised by the migration-development nexus and ask how life-worlds and institutions are changing in the face of cross-border processes. In this way, the book is also a contribution to the different understandings of development.