From individual to collective social remittances: the role of translocal moorings in climate adaptation in Morocco

Abstract

Remittances from migrants have been increasingly recognized as potential contributors to climate adaptation in origin communities. This paper examines social remittances and the role of translocal actors within the context of environmental and climate change. We particularly emphasize that also the lack of movements (immobilities and moorings) plays a crucial role in social remittance pathways, which has so far mostly been neglected. Drawing from ethnographic qualitative research, we examine a case study from Skoura M’Daz, Morocco, where a growing ecotourism sector is being shaped by both migrant and non-migrant actors. We found that immobilities and moorings play a pivotal role in the social remittance pathway in several forms, including: (a) the translocal embeddedness of key actors, (b) the development of local know-how for implementing remittances, and (c) the transformation of social remittances as agents stop and go among origins, transit, and destination areas. Thus, this research suggests that a translocal im/mobility approach, rather than a focus only on the act of migration, opens up new layers of spatial analysis and understanding of social remittances in responding to environmental and climate change.