1st Edition
The Political Economy of Global Remittances Gender, Governmentality and Neoliberalism
Over the last decade, a new phenomenon has emerged within the international community: the Global Remittances Trend (GRT). Thereby, government institutions, international (financial) organisations, NGOs and private sector actors have become interested in migration and remittances and their potential for poverty reduction and development, and have started to devise institutions and policies to harness this potential.
This book employs a gender-sensitive governmentality analysis to trace the emergence of the GRT, to map its conceptual and institutional elements, and to examine its broader implications. Through an analysis of the GRT at the international level, combined with an in-depth case study on Mexico, this book demonstrates that the GRT is instrumental in spreading and deepening specific forms of gendered neoliberal governmentality.
This innovative book will be of interest to students and scholars of political science, international relations, sociology, development studies, economics, gender studies and Latin American studies.
1. Introduction 2. A Gender-Sensitive Governmentality Approach 3. The GRT in the International Realm 4. The GRT in Mexico 5. The Power Technologies and Subjectivities of the GRT in Mexico 6. Resistance and Empowerment within the GRT in Mexico 7. Conclusion
Biography
Rahel Kunz is a Researcher and Lecturer at the Political Science Department, University of Lucerne, Switzerland.
"A timely analysis of the institutional and conceptual discourses about remittances. The Political Economy of Global Remittances clearly shows how the growth and persistence of the GRT has come about and reveals some of the problematic implications of its narrow macroeconomic understanding of remittances. Kunz provides interesting reflections for researchers working on remittances." - Marta Bivand Erdal, Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy, 2012, Vol. 30
