Full Description
Return to Sender is an anthropological account of how Peruvian emigrants raise and remit money and what that activity means for themselves and for their home communities. The book draws on first-hand ethnographic data from North and South America, Europe, and Japan to describe how Peruvians remit to relatives at home, collectively raise money to organize development projects in their regions of origin, and invest savings in business and other activities. Karsten Paerregaard challenges unqualified approval of remittances as beneficial resources of development for home communities and important income for home countries. He finds a more complex situation in which remittances can also create dependency and deprivation.
Contents
List of Tables and Figures Acknowledgments 1. The Social Life of Remittances 2. Peru: Migration and Remittances 3. Compromiso: The Family Commitment 4. Voluntad: The Community Commitment 5. Superacion: The Personal Commitment 6. After Remittances References Index
