According to the livelihoods approach, choice and practice of migration is strongly linked with the assets people possess. Social networks are key assets in determining the nature and potential success of migration as a strategy to improve livelihoods. This article connects the concept of assets as social (as well as economic), with anthropological theory on social practice and power relations. This theoretical framework is used to analyse data from in-depth ethnographic fieldwork, exploring the relationship between social networks and livelihoods for those migrating from Nepal to Delhi.
The research is guided by a set of key questions:
- how migrants in Delhi live and work and how they get access to jobs and shelter;
- how migrants access credit and savings’ in order to generate money for migration; to repay debts and save money to send home;
- how people remit money;
- the impact migration has on caste and gender identity;
- the kinds of social linkages between migrants in Delhi and their families back in Nepal and whether new social linkages develop during the migration process;
- whether interventions maximise the benefits of migration.
This case study on social networks looks at the social and economic conditions of migrants from far West Nepal and in Delhi, their destination. Impoverishment, indebtedness, social discrimination, and lack of infrastructure have been causing widespread labour migration to India for generations. Usually men seek work in Delhi, leaving behind the extended family. Sometimes they take their wives and children later on.
Male and female migrants in Delhi generally possess low human and financial capital, which limits their access to jobs, shelter, and physical infrastructure. At the same time, they are endowed with strong social capital in the form of social networks. These networks are crucial coping mechanisms upon which they rely to become established in Delhi. When these are insufficient, assistance is sought from caste networks or from trustworthy persons beyond caste. However this bonding social capital only compensates their lack of other capital to a certain extent, and it provides only limited access to human, financial, and symbolic capital. Also, the social networks among migrants are not the same for everyone.
For unskilled migrants, the job market is highly gender segregated, and they occupy a distinct niche. The job market is highly organised since jobs are handed over and sold within the networks. Men need substantial seed capital to pay their predecessors for the jobs.
Practical recommendations for policy makers include:
- the research demonstrates a clear link between local-cultural identity, social position and access to key resources such as land, labour, financial and social capital. This indicates that programmes addressing migration should focus on the ways people obtain knowledge and information on migration and hence power;
- policy measures should be taken to influence the use of remittances, including government incentives;
- in cases where migrants have to pay a large sum of money to receive a job from the predecessor, or have to take a loan to cover the travel costs, labour opportunities and wage-earning capacities need to be gradually separated from debt, advanced sale of labour, and high interest repayments;
- the contribution of migration research to policy-making should be improved: further research has to be carried out and communicated. Policy-makers, international donors, and NGOs should be informed about research results since they are sometimes not aware about certain problems or simply lack the capacity to do in-depth research.
