Moving toward reform? Mobility, health, and development in the context of neoliberalism

• Published in: Migration studies 2013-11, Vol.1 (3), p.338-362
• Main Authors: Levitt, Peggy, Rajaram, N.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 2049-5838; 2049-5846
• DOI: 10.1093/migration/mnt026

We explore one aspect of the relationship between migration and development: how return migrants and people who have worked or studied abroad for various lengths of time influence the health sector by bringing or sending back social remittances-ideas, practices, and know-how. Our findings are base on fieldwork in Gujarat, India. The organizations we studied and the people who work for them are embedded in both secular versus religious and highly structured versus loosely organized networks. We expected, therefore, that these returnees, and the organizations where they work, would be exposed to and appropriate different aspects of global public health. Instead, we found, that over time, their understanding of health and health care delivery became increasingly similar. Despite the different religious beliefs and philosophies of development motivating their work, how each organization understood health and how to provide it ultimately incorporated many aspects of neo-liberalism. This approach is so pervasive, and the institutions that disseminate and finance it so strong, that most providers cannot ignore it.