Cape Verdean Notions of Migrant Remittances

The transfer of money from migrants to their non-migrant relatives is a key, symbol of the quality and meaning of transnational kinship relations. This article analyses how people in Cape Verde view migrant family members’ economic obligations and it examines the concomitant moral discourse. Through a detailed ethnographic study the article explores how gender and kinship positions interplay with the moral obligation to send remittances, and it also inquires into the differences between rural and urban people’s attitudes towards monetary gifts. Moreover, the importance of the receiver’s status in the local society is discussed and the role of the personal relation between the sender and the receiver. Thus the analysis goes beyond an instrumental and rationalistic approach to remittances, which is common in much research, and explores the significance of this money for emotions and social relations.Para os seus parentes não emigrantes as remessas dos emigrantes são um símbolo chave da qualidade e do significado das relações de parentesco transnacionais. Este artigo analisa como as pessoas em Cabo Verde encaram as obrigações económicas dos emigrantes membros de família e examina o discurso moral concomitante. Através de um estudo etnográfico detalhado o artigo explora como posições de género e parentesco interagem com a obrigação moral de enviar remessas e também investiga as diferenças entre as atitudes das pessoas rurais e urbanas relativamente às ofertas monetárias. Além disso, discute-se a importância do estatuto do receptor na sociedade local e o papel da relação pessoal entre remetente e receptor. Assim, a análise vai além de uma abordagem instrumental e racionalista das remessas, o que é habitual em muitas pesquisas, explorando o significado deste dinheiro em termos de emoções e relações sociais

Trade Facilitation: Bringing Kazakhstan Closer to the EU

Kazakhstan is looking to deepen its political and economic ties with the European Union. This can likely be accomplished by increasing trade between the two entities. And an effective way of boosting trade may be to harmonize and simplify trade procedures – otherwise known as trade facilitation. This paper investigates how the volume of Kazakhstan’s exports to the EU is likely to be affected by Kazakhstan pursuing trade facilitation. This paper also estimates how large this effect is likely to be, and simulates the impact on Kazakhstan’s exports to the EU given different levels of trade facilitation. The empirical analysis is conducted using a gravity model of international trade, which is estimated using the fixed effect Poisson Pseudo-Maximum-Likelihood (PPML) method. The results indicate that trade facilitation could lead to a substantial increase in the volume of Kazakhstan’s annual exports to the EU

Moving beyond the Colonial?

For the first time in sub-Saharan Africa’s postcolonial history, large numbers of citizens of a European former colonial power are migrating to an ex-colony. Portuguese migrants are attracted by Angola’s strong economic growth and are seeking to escape crisis in Portugal. This article focuses on everyday workplace relations between Angolans and Portuguese. In particular, it analyses how colonial power relations still resonate with both groups and whether their mutual imaginaries are moving beyond the colonial past. The article concludes that dependence on access to the labour market and the goodwill of Angola’s political and administrative class has undercut the ex-colonisers’ dominance. Yet colonial imaginaries are still in play, particularly among the Portuguese. Consequently, postcolonial power relations among Angolans and Portuguese are contested and unstable.Pour la première fois dans l’histoire postcoloniale de l’Afrique subsaharienne, un grand nombre de citoyens d’une ancienne puissance coloniale européenne émigrent vers une ex colonie. Les migrants portugais sont attirés par la forte croissance économique de l’Angola et tentent par là même d’échapper à la crise au Portugal. Cet article porte sur les relations quotidiennes entre Angolais et Portugais dans leur cadre de travail. Il analyse en particulier à quel point les relations de pouvoir instituées durant l’époque coloniale ont toujours un écho chez les deux groupes et dans quelles limites leur imaginaire mutuel a pu dépasser cette histoire. L’article conclut que la situation de dépendance des Portugais vis-à-vis de l’accès au marché du travail associée à la bonne volonté de la classe politique et administrative angolaise a atténué le positionnement dominant des anciens colonisateurs. Cependant, les imaginaires coloniaux sont toujours présents, surtout chez les Portugais. Par conséquent, les rapports de force post-coloniaux entre Angolais et Portugais restent instables et font l’objet de fréquentes contestations

Heparin-binding protein: a diagnostic biomarker of urinary tract infection in adults.

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are associated with significant morbidity and high frequency of antibiotic prescription. Diagnosing UTI is often difficult, particularly in the critically ill patient and in patients with unspecific and mild symptoms. The standard rapid tests have limited value, and there is a need for more reliable diagnostic tools. Heparin-binding protein (HBP) is released from neutrophils and has previously been studied as a diagnostic and predictive biomarker in different bacterial infections

Making migrants responsible for development: Cape Verdean returnees and northern migration policies

In recent years, there has been a surge of "Northern" policy documents concerned with increasing the positive effects of international migration in countries of origin. This article contrasts some basic assumptions in policies on migration, return and development with an anthropological study of Cape Verdean returnees, and it reveals some important disparities between the returnees' experiences and the ideas underpinning policy documents. The article analyses the role returnees' savings and skills play in local change in Cape Verde, and in particular it looks into entrepreneurial activities. This is related to a discussion of the conditions that must be fulfilled in order to make it possible for return migrants to contribute to positive social change. In conclusion, the article shows that structural conditions have a fundamental impact on individual migrants’ abilities to support development, a perspective often left out of contemporary policies.In jüngster Zeit entstand eine Flut politischer Dokumente im "Norden", die sich mit den positiven Effekten internationaler Migration in den Ursprungsländern der Migranten beschäftigen. Der vorliegende Beitrag kontrastiert einige grundlegende Annahmen im Bereich der Migrations-, Rückkehrer- und Entwicklungspolitik mit den Ergebnissen einer anthropologischen Studie über Rückkehrer nach Kap Verde und deckt einige gravierende Differenzen zwischen diesen Grundannahmen und den Erfahrungen der Rückkehrer auf. Die Autorin analysiert, welche Bedeutung die Ersparnisse und die Qualifikationen der Rückkehrer für den lokalen gesellschaftlichen Wandel haben und ist dabei insbesondere an unternehmerischen Aktivitäten interessiert. Darauf aufbauend diskutiert sie, unter welchen Bedingungen zurückkehrende Migranten positiv zum sozialen Wandel beitragen können. Sie kommt zu dem Schluss, dass die Möglichkeiten für einzelne Rückkehrer, die Entwicklung ihres Heimatlandes positiv zu beeinflussen, stark von strukturellen Gegebenheiten abhängen – eine Tatsache, die bei politischen Planungen vielfach unberücksichtigt bleibt

Making Migrants Responsible for Development: Cape Verdean Returnees and Northern Migration Policies Wenn Migranten für Entwicklung verantwortlich gemacht werden: Rückkehrer nach Kap Verde und vom „Norden“ geprägte Migrationspolitik

In recent years, there has been a surge of “Northern” policy documents concerned with increasing the positive effects of international migration in countries of origin. This article contrasts some basic assumptions in policies on migration, return and development with an anthropological study of Cape Verdean returnees, and it reveals some important disparities between the returnees’ experiences and the ideas underpinning policy documents. The article analyses the role returnees’ savings and skills play in local change in Cape Verde, and in particular it looks into entrepreneurial activities. This is related to a discussion of the conditions that must be fulfilled in order to make it possible for return migrants to contribute to positive social change. In conclusion, the article shows that structural conditions have a fundamental impact on individual migrants’ abilities to support development, a perspective often left out of contemporary policies.In jüngster Zeit entstand eine Flut politischer Dokumente im “Norden”, die sich mit den positiven Effekten internationaler Migration in den Ursprungsländern der Migranten beschäftigen. Der vorliegende Beitrag kontrastiert einige grundlegende Annahmen im Bereich der Migrations-, Rückkehrer- und Entwicklungspolitik mit den Ergebnissen einer anthropologischen Studie über Rückkehrer nach Kap Verde und deckt einige gravierende Differenzen zwischen diesen Grundannahmen und den Erfahrungen der Rückkehrer auf. Die Autorin analysiert, welche Bedeutung die Ersparnisse und die Qualifikationen der Rückkehrer für den lokalen gesellschaftlichen Wandel haben und ist dabei insbesondere an unternehmerischen Aktivitäten interessiert. Darauf aufbauend diskutiert sie, unter welchen Bedingungen zurückkehrende Migranten positiv zum sozialen Wandel beitragen können. Sie kommt zu dem Schluss, dass die Möglichkeiten für einzelne Rückkehrer, die Entwicklung ihres Heimatlandes positiv zu beeinflussen, stark von strukturellen Gegebenheiten abhängen – eine Tatsache, die bei politischen Planungen vielfach unberücksichtigt bleibt

Migrant remittances, social inequality and restrictive immigration regimes

The case of Cape Verde shows that the relationship between remittances and inequality in migrant-sending countries depends on a number of factors. The situation is thus more complicatedthan the dominant pessimistic view of the 1970s and 1980s or today’s “development optimism” discourse. Among the factors are changes over time in the selectivity of migrants, variations in family organization and differences in impact between permanent and return migration. A policy debate about remittances and inequality needs to include immigration regimes. Migrant-sending countries can reduce the risk that remittances will exacerbate socioeconomicinequality by facilitating the use of remittances for projects that benefit local communities. Destination countries can open up possibilities for legal labour migration, especiallyfor those who are not highly educated, in order to promote, among other things, a more equal distribution of remittances

Wenn Migranten für Entwicklung verantwortlich gemacht werden: Rückkehrer nach Kap Verde und vom „Norden“ geprägte Migrationspolitik

In recent years, there has been a surge of “Northern” policy documents concerned with increasing the positive effects of international migration in countries of origin. This article contrasts some basic assumptions in policies on migration, return and development with an anthropological study of Cape Verdean returnees, and it reveals some important disparities between the returnees’ experiences and the ideas underpinning policy documents. The article analyses the role returnees’ savings and skills play in local change in Cape Verde, and in particular it looks into entrepreneurial activities. This is related to a discussion of the conditions that must be fulfilled in order to make it possible for return migrants to contribute to positive social change. In conclusion, the article shows that structural conditions have a fundamental impact on individual migrants’ abilities to support development, a perspective often left out of contemporary policies.In jüngster Zeit entstand eine Flut politischer Dokumente im “Norden”, die sich mit den positiven Effekten internationaler Migration in den Ursprungsländern der Migranten beschäftigen. Der vorliegende Beitrag kontrastiert einige grundlegende Annahmen im Bereich der Migrations-, Rückkehrer- und Entwicklungspolitik mit den Ergebnissen einer anthropologischen Studie über Rückkehrer nach Kap Verde und deckt einige gravierende Differenzen zwischen diesen Grundannahmen und den Erfahrungen der Rückkehrer auf. Die Autorin analysiert, welche Bedeutung die Ersparnisse und die Qualifikationen der Rückkehrer für den lokalen gesellschaftlichen Wandel haben und ist dabei insbesondere an unternehmerischen Aktivitäten interessiert. Darauf aufbauend diskutiert sie, unter welchen Bedingungen zurückkehrende Migranten positiv zum sozialen Wandel beitragen können. Sie kommt zu dem Schluss, dass die Möglichkeiten für einzelne Rückkehrer, die Entwicklung ihres Heimatlandes positiv zu beeinflussen, stark von strukturellen Gegebenheiten abhängen – eine Tatsache, die bei politischen Planungen vielfach unberücksichtigt bleibt