Who is transnational? Considering ideologies of return in Guatemalan origin communities

Abstract

Permanent return migration has received limited attention within migration studies. This absence can be attributed to the dominance of transnationalism theory which explains that migrants today are prone to frequent movement across borders rather than permanent settlement in anyone place. The transnational framework conceptualizes return migration as one step in the migration process rather than the end of the migration cycle. In other words, return is most often seen as taking the form of short term visits back home or circular migration. From this, some scholars have begun to conceive transnationalism as a kind of return. However, scholars have also noted that many immigrants do, in fact, intend permanent return to their home communities. I argue that permanent return migration should be a renewed area focus because it may be the continued desire of a large population of people, it contributes positively to community development and it can reveal new insights about transnational theory. Building off the work of three scholars that have recently examined permanent return I propose a study that further explores ideologies of return and transnational livelihoods from the perspective of a Guatemalan migrant origin community. Focusing on return from the often overlooked perspective of returned migrants, migrant families and migrants to-be, this project has the potential to contribute to our empirical and theoretical understandings of return migration and transnationalism.