Hometown Transnationalism: Long Distance Villageness among Indian Punjabis and North African Berbers

International audienceCollective remittances, that is to say development initiatives carried out by immigrant groups for the benefit of their place of origin, be they NGOs, hometown associations or religious organisations, have been attracting growing attention from both academics and policymakers. Focusing on hometown organisations, this book analyses the social mechanics that are conducive to collective transnationalism and examines the distinct immigrant groups throughout the world who commit themselves into the same pattern of transnational practice over roughly the same period. Drawing on fifteen years of research on North African Berbers in France and Sikh Punjabis in the UK, Lacroix takes a holistic approach to migrant trajectories, experiences and practices. Using an innovative theoretical model, he explores the formation and evolution of hometown transnationalism at every step of the migration process. In doing so, he challenges common actor-centred and economistic views of transnationalism