Ecuadorian Remittances, Gender, and Family Relations: A study of the transnational ties between Ecuadorian migrants in England and their families in Ecuador
type: CreativeWork
description: This thesis explores the meaning, management (including usage and transformation), and implication of international economic remittances for transnational gender and family relations for an under-researched diaspora - Ecuadorian migrants in England, and their families (non-migrants and return migrants) in Ecuador. Remittances have been explored primarily within the context of different: (a) forms of family relations, and (b) types of economic remittances. This approach has not been commonly undertaken in the exploration of remittances since these tend to be treated as economic transactions, rather than as transnational relational processes. Methodologically, this study embraces an interpretivist epistemology, a qualitative approach, and thematic analysis centred around 35 semi-structured interviews with migrant men and women in London and Oxford, and their recipient families in 6 different Ecuadorian provinces. This study offers empirical and conceptual contributions. Evidence from participants suggest five main findings: (1) Economic remittances are more than money. These are complex transnational social and emotional practices with multiple connotations, which help transnational families sustain interconnected symbolic processes of mutual visibility, recognition, and reciprocity. Yet, different type of economic remittances can have specific gendered meanings, purposes, and expectations for various family relationships. (2) Remittances created new forms of long-term intra- and inter-gender and generational remittance management relations (RMR) with one/multiple close family members, where women (non-migrant and return migrants) were preferred as remittance managers. Within these RMR, remittances were transformed into different forms of capital, at times secretly to avoid family conflict. While RMR helped these transnational families maintain, invest in, and/or strengthen their family relations, RMR were not always unproblematic. In some occasions, RMR altered remit…
abstract: This thesis explores the meaning, management (including usage and transformation), and implication of international economic remittances for transnational gender and family relations for an under-researched diaspora - Ecuadorian migrants in England, and their families (non-migrants and return migrants) in Ecuador. Remittances have been explored primarily within the context of different: (a) forms of family relations, and (b) types of economic remittances. This approach has not been commonly undertaken in the exploration of remittances since these tend to be treated as economic transactions, rather than as transnational relational processes. Methodologically, this study embraces an interpretivist epistemology, a qualitative approach, and thematic analysis centred around 35 semi-structured interviews with migrant men and women in London and Oxford, and their recipient families in 6 different Ecuadorian provinces. This study offers empirical and conceptual contributions. Evidence from participants suggest five main findings: (1) Economic remittances are more than money. These are complex transnational social and emotional practices with multiple connotations, which help transnational families sustain interconnected symbolic processes of mutual visibility, recognition, and reciprocity. Yet, different type of economic remittances can have specific gendered meanings, purposes, and expectations for various family relationships. (2) Remittances created new forms of long-term intra- and inter-gender and generational remittance management relations (RMR) with one/multiple close family members, where women (non-migrant and return migrants) were preferred as remittance managers. Within these RMR, remittances were transformed into different forms of capital, at times secretly to avoid family conflict. While RMR helped these transnational families maintain, invest in, and/or strengthen their family relations, RMR were not always unproblematic. In some occasions, RMR altered remit…
author: Velásquez, Shirley A.
language: en
date published: 2016
date modified: 2026-07-24T03:43:03Z
provider: Oxford Brookes University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Oxford Brookes University

PropertyValue
property ID: DOI
value: 10.24384/dydf-vh18