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Constructing human wellbeing across spatial boundaries: negotiating meanings in transnational migration
Author(s) -
WRIGHT KATIE
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
global networks
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.685
H-Index - 65
eISSN - 1471-0374
pISSN - 1470-2266
DOI - 10.1111/j.1471-0374.2011.00341.x
Subject(s) - livelihood , holism , negotiation , perception , sociology , psychosocial , psychology , gender studies , social psychology , political science , geography , social science , epistemology , philosophy , archaeology , neuroscience , psychiatry , agriculture
In this article, I examine how human wellbeing is constructed transnationally. Whereas much attention has been paid to migrants based in the North, how the out‐migration of kin affects the construction of human wellbeing of those living ‘back home’ remains little understood. Existing literature has tended to focus on the impact of financial remittances but the broader psychosocial impacts affecting human wellbeing outcomes have received less attention. In this article I suggest that this gap might be filled by adopting a human wellbeing approach to deepen understanding of what Peru‐based immediate relatives and close friends regard as the benefits and challenges of this migration. By examining how human wellbeing is constructed across material, perceptual and relational domains, this approach offers greater holism in analysis. I also extend work on ‘social remittances’ by offering insights into the meanings that ensure that migration continues to be regarded in Peru as a livelihood improvement strategy worth pursuing.