Reverse remittances

In an era of remittance fatigue, there are calls for a revival of academic and policy related studies in other forms of linkages between migrant origin and destination countries. The remittance fatigue discourse neglects transfers that move from migrant networks in origin countries; mostly in the ‘Global South’ to migrants in wealthy destination countries in the ‘Global North’. These remittance flows have been conceptualised as reverse remittances. The conceptualisation of reverse remittances has focused on the rural to urban migration setting, where there are material transfers to migrants from their relatives in rural areas. Much less has been written about reverse remittances on a global scale. This chapter investigates the practice against a backdrop of ‘Global South’ to ‘Global North’ migration. I argue that capital and class play a crucial role in transnational economic exchanges that occurs between migrants and their relatives. This chapter contributes to decentering the assumptions in remittance studies that ‘Global South’ to ‘Global North’ migration implies ‘Global North’ to ‘Global South’ remittances. Drawing on detailed life histories of two middle-aged Ghanaian migrants living in the United Kingdom and their relatives in Ghana, this chapter highlights the changing circumstances that lead to the flow of reverse remittances after the initial settlement phase of migration. Resources available to both migrants and their relatives influence whether a migrant will send remittances in the first place or receive assistance from origin countries.