This research aims to determine, analyse and understand the impact of transnational activities carried out by Colombian migrants living in the US on the socioeconomic development of the country of origin at the micro level of the household, the meso level of the community and the macro level of the nation. Additionally, the role the Colombian government has adopted towards its migrants and their transnationalism has also been examined in order to provide recommendations for future policy action to reduce the cost of migration and enhance its benefits for the country in general. The research recognises the importance of considering diverse levels of analysis (De Haas, 2012), and of including both agency and structure (De Haas, 2007a) when studying the link between migration and development. To accomplish this, New Economics of Labour Migration (NELM) and Transnationalism approaches have been used as a conceptual basis of the thesis. The thesis applies a qualitative methodology, namely multiple case studies, to gain a deep understanding of transnationalism and its impact. It discusses the transnational activities of Colombian migrants, including the reasons behind their engagement or the lack thereof and the impact those activities could have at the three levels of analysis proposed. The main data collection method used was focus groups with semi-structured open-ended questions with migrant families, and interviews with context-oriented actors, including three governmental officials and two experts on Colombian migration. Other sources of data included conference participation, review of previous studies, publicly available data and statistics, and governmental public information, among others. The research has adopted a multidisciplinary approach, employing concepts from international business, management, economics and sociology. The analysis of the data collected and its association with the literature has allowed to establish that Colombian migrants living in the US do engage in some transnational activities, especially those individually oriented. However, collective transnational activities such as political participation, and community remittances, have shown to have a low level of engagement. The personal characteristics of the migrant and the 3 structures in both the sending and receiving countries have influenced migrants’ willingness to get involved in transnational activities. The involvement at diverse levels and frequency in transnational activities creates various impacts at the household, community and national level. Those impacts seem to be mainly beneficial for households, while more diverse outcomes can be observed at the community and national levels. Therefore, migrants’ transnationalism by itself cannot be considered a tool that could reduce the North-South dependence in the case of Colombia; the impacts of those activities in the country of origin point towards both increasing and decreasing the development gap between both countries. Individual migrants conduct a number of international activities through which they exercise their agency, within the limitations imposed upon them by the structures of the place of origin and destination. At the same time, those structures are shaped by transnationalism and the impact migrants’ activities could generate. However, migrant activity impact on socioeconomic development will not reduce the development gap as long as the country of origin does not provide the right environment to support local development. The Colombian government, on the other hand, has made some efforts to include its migrants within national projects, and has recently aimed to include them not only as a political force but also as economic agents. Nonetheless, most of the strategies used are limited in scope, and therefore their impacts are limited too. To enhance the potential positive impact of transnationalism on the socioeconomic development of the community and the country a number of recommendations have been provided in this research, recognising that local development is not dependent on the migrant but on governments and their institutions. Finally, migration as a family strategy and transnational activities provide migrants’ families with livelihood improvements, as explained by the approaches of NELM and Transnationalism, while the community and the country are impacted in both positive and negative ways. The challenge for communities and governments is to design the right strategies to reduce the negative impacts migration and transnationalism can generate while enhancing their potential benefits. All those strategies must be developed taking into account migrant profile and the structure of the place of origin and destination.

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This research is a study of knowledge transfer through international mobility in Serbia, focusing on the knowledge and skills that individuals acquire, generate and transfer through the migration experience. Grounded in the literatures on migration and development, globalisation, and knowledge management, the thesis measures the acquisition and transfer of formal skills, qualifications and tacit skills by mobile individuals. Integration of Eastern European countries into global and regional economic and political structures has reinvigorated the study of migration and this project is designed to plug a gap in empirical research on the micro-level experiences of knowledge transfer by return migrants. One of the key questions of this research is why knowledge transfer does not automatically follow return migration, often in spite of micro and macro level efforts targeting skilled migrants. The research argues that the workplace is a key site where reintegration can be observed and measured, and finds that highly skilled returnees carry a range of skills and competences that can benefit workplaces in economic transition. The research also demonstrates that domestic and international factors play a crucial role in the ability of return migrants to transfer knowledge to Serbia. While the workplace is the principal level of investigation, a multi-level analysis is required in recognition of the multiple factors that influence international mobility. As such, this research also analyses the role of the state, global processes, individual motivations, and different types of knowledge. The research approach is multi-method, comprising qualitative and quantitative analysis of unique survey and interview data, and documents produced by government departments, international bodies and NGOs. The methodology also uses qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) to identify the conditions that lead to knowledge sharing in the workplace.

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Background:- The incorporation of migrants in the host country is an on-going debate in many countries. While assimilation theories were prevalent in earlier times before the era of what is commonly referred to as globalization as explanations of migrants' integration, ethnic pluralist theories including multiculturalism are currently being employed. These theories, however present challenges for current migrants' incorporation in the host country because they do not regard migrants' transnationalism. Transnational identity and how it relates to migrants' wellbeing in the host country remain under-researched and it is the concern of this study.- Aims of the study:- The aims of this study were to: ¨ Investigate the impact of transnational identity on the subjective wellbeing of Kenyan migrants in the UK. This is achieved through a critical examination of the relationship between the support they provide to their chronically ill relatives in Kenya and how this impacts on their wellbeing. ¨ Identify indicators of subjective wellbeing related to transnational identity- Methodology:- A mixed method approach was used and data was collected through two stages. The first stage used a survey, carried out to map out the study by establishing the occurrence of support provision among Kenyans. Survey questionnaires were used for this stage. The second stage employed the use of semi-structured interviews and participant observation as data collection instruments.- Participants:- During the survey, 96 participants (n=96) participated. The semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 participants. Three community events were observed, two of them were 'harambees', which are fundraising events organised to raise money for an ill relative in Kenya and one was a 'ngwataniro', which is a prayer meeting organized to pray for an ill relative in Kenya.- Results and data analysis:- The survey data was analyzed using computer software, Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and a report was compiled. Colaizzi's framework was used for the initial analysis of the semi-structured interviews' data and participant observation data. The data was sorted out and major categories and sub-categories were identified using computer software(NUD*IST), and these were then examined further. The major themes were; transnational identity; belonging; giving; and wellbeing. The results highlighted that migrants construct, nurture and maintain transnational identity thorough provision of support to their chronically ill relatives in Kenya. This enables them to maintain links with their friends and relatives, further enhancing their wellbeing in their country of settlement, the UK.- Discussion:- Transnational identity which is practiced by migrants and reflected among other things through maintenance of links with their families and friends in their home country is linked to migrants' wellbeing in the host country.- Conclusion:- The results from this study have generated an understanding of how migrants construct, nurture and maintain transnational identity, which is explored in this study through provision of support to their chronically ill relatives in Kenya. The evidence in this research that transnational identity leads to enhanced wellbeing of migrants is a good base for policy makers to consider including transnational perspectives in social integration policies. Recommended research areas should allow additional investigation in transnational identity and how it impacts on health among migrants.

Social movements and their effects on society have been attractive for researcher for over a century. Especially together with the workers’ movements in the 19th century, different approaches and explanations were produced from distinct point of views in order to analyse the reasons, forming process, participants, aims, effects, emergence and decline processes, and results of social movements have been discussed and analysed. In these years, features, aims and participants of social movements have also changed. Especially in the last four decades new explanation were produced in order to explain this change such as resource mobilisation and new social movement approach. Change in people’s experiences, globalisation, and improvement in technologies have increased awareness of people about the problems of their everyday experiences. In this route, urban poor’s experiences in Turkey changed due to social, political, demographic and economic developments particularly in the last three decades. Urban poor migrants, previously, had different tools such as family/kinship solidarity, continuing tie with their villages and opportunity to have informal urban settlements. These tools eased their integration into the cities they migrated and were used as coping mechanisms in order to reach better living standards and upward mobility. However, these tools lost their effectiveness due to change in the structures, earthquakes and economic crisis during 1990s. Therefore, newly coming migrants could not involve with these traditional welfare mechanisms. However, even in the environment where traditional mechanisms have weakened and during economic crisis, some segments of urban poor migrants appeared to be stayed committed to the state and social order. Although it is anticipated that these problems cause frustration and anger for poor migrants against the rest of society and the state, thus these factors increase their demand to form and participate in social movements, these groups prefer to stay away from this kind of movements and do not participate in social movements even if these movements aim to defend their rights and increase their living conditions. Therefore, the focus of this research is exploring the main factors that affect urban poor migrants’ attitudes and behaviours towards the state and society in Turkey even it is anticipated that urban poor migrants experience relative deprivation and this might cause frustration and grievance towards society and state. The research found a number of factors that affect urban poor migrants’ attitudes and approaches towards the state and the rest of society. It was also found that some factors which are closely related to Turkey’s unique features are more effective amongst all factors.

This thesis explores experiences of mobility in Peru with a particular focus on the dynamics of family relationships. Over the past decade the ‘migration and development’ debate has gained prominence in academic and policy circles. The debate has focused on international migration and there is an identified need for movements within countries to be revisited, especially given that the majority of poor people in developing countries move within rather than between countries. A further limitation has been the focus on economic dimensions of development particularly in terms of the impact of remittance flows. An emergent argument in the literature supports a holistic notion of development and within this support for a wellbeing perspective is gaining momentum (IOM, 2013; Wright, 2010, 2011, 2012; Wright and Black, 2011). The distinctiveness of a wellbeing approach lies in its emphasis on people’s own perceptions and experiences of life (White, 2010). Wellbeing is understood to incorporate the material, relational and subjective dimensions of life and the interplay between these. Emphasis is placed on the socio-cultural context in shaping these dimensions of wellbeing. The study employs wellbeing as a ‘sensitising lens’ to explore people’s perceptions and experiences of mobility in Peru with a focus on the dynamics of family relationships. The research explores experiences of mobile lives from the perspective of poor urban residents of a ‘human settlement’ on the outskirts of Lima, the capital. This is supplemented with interviews with residents of rural, peri-urban and urban communities of the highlands [sierra]. The thesis points to the necessity and routineness of mobility in the search ‘to get ahead’ [salir adelante]. Central to understanding experiences of mobility is the dynamic of how people anchor relationally. ‘Relational anchoring’ (Auyero and Swistun, 2008) reflects a sense of togetherness [estar juntos] and closeness [estar unidos] in family and is based on relations of cariño [affection, warmth and love]. The thesis details the struggle surrounding the establishment of anchoring routines (phone calls, visits and ‘sending’), especially when anchoring to kin relations (parents and siblings in particular) and to ones immediate family (partner and children) create competing demands on limited resources. Senses of wellbeing in experiences of mobility are expressed through the contrasting emotions of pena [sorrow] and being tranquilo/a [content]. Pena expresses a sense of disruption in relationships and conveys the socio-cultural meaning of separation and living apart from kin. Narratives of an enduring pena and isolation are predominantly female narratives and reveal the significance of the relational circumstances of mobility in shaping experiences which are marked by ambiguity and vulnerability.

This thesis is an in-depth examination and analysis into the lives of Armenian women migrants to the United States from 1990 to 2010, which has been an unexamined growing phenomenon and constitutes a disruption in conventional gender relations within Armenia. The work disrupts the idea of a more homogenised Armenian diaspora in places like the U.S. Through my research I found that some Armenian women have become the sole breadwinners in their families, defying traditional gender roles and expectations. I also discovered that migration and exposures to lived experiences outside of Armenia provoked a re-examination of Armenian nationality and culture. The thesis also looks more generally at the conditions and attitudes of women in Armenia which have led to migration. Examining the differences and similarities in female and male migratory patterns uncovers the skill levels of the women I interviewed, the type of work available to them, and the cultural changes they negotiate in moving from one society to another. I place the work they do outside the home in the wider context of their domestic responsibilities; this shows how many women have been forced to become breadwinners in addition to their domestic duties.Using semi-structured interviews, ethnographic observation, and contemporary journalistic sources, I was better able to cross-reference and complement my primary interview sources. I conducted 11 individual interviews, one group interview consisting of 9 women at Los Angeles Valley College and two group interviews consisting of 7 women at Glendale Community College. I found that the women I interviewed were frequently employed at jobs below their educational qualifications and that they were often doing work that reinforced their dependence on kin or members of the Armenian community in the United States. Several of the women were disillusioned by the fact that members of the Armenian American community were inclined to exploit their vulnerability as new arrivals. Instead of a homogenous diasporic community I discovered heterogeneity in terms of social status and length of stay in the U.S. I also found diversity among the individuals’ responses to their new circumstances. While some of the women I interviewed accepted their new, fast-paced lives in America, others could not and were critical of American individualism and competition. Some of these women returned to Armenia, and I discuss their responses as well as efforts by the Armenian government to migrants back to Armenia. The women interviewed highlight the myriad ways Armenian women experienced migration, influenced by a post-genocide culture and strong ties to family and home. This project fills the void that many scholars have left untouched. I provide research and data about Armenian women’s lived experiences, shed light on their migration from home and often times back, and the resilience of Armenian women.

During the last two decades, Central and East-European (CEE) countries and in particular, Moldova has experienced large-scale labour emigration as well as significant increases in the associated worker's remittance flows. At least one-fourth of Mo ldova's economically active population has emigrated and worker's remittances amount to some 30 percent of its GDP. Against this backdrop, the essays included in this thesis aim to contribute to a better understanding of the dynamics of remittance flows from workers in the host country to their household in the origin country through the investigation of three aspects: (1) the factors that account for the receipt of remittances across households in Moldova; (2) relationship between remittances and future migration intentions of non-migrants living in remittance receiving households; and (3) the impact of remittances on the enrolment status of children and young adults. Using household survey data for Moldova, the results show that altruism and investment are the two main motives behind remittance flows to Moldova. Moreover, the analysis also suggests that remittances help loosen the liquidity constraints of households. Thus, on one hand it is shown that remittances trigger migration intentions among nonmigrants either through their signalling property or through by alleviating credit constraints of recipient households. On the other hand, children in remittance-receiving families are more likely to be enrolled for education compared to similar children in non-recipient families.