Inducing development: Social remittances and the expansion of oil palm in the Philippines

• Main Authors: MONTEFRIO, Marvin Joseph F., ORTIGA, Yasmin Y., JOSOL, Ma. Rose Cristy B.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2018
• Subjects: Sociology
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/2747; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/soss_research/article/4004/viewcontent/Montefrio_et_al_2014_International_Migration_Review__1_.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

This paper investigates the relationship between social remittances andland-use change in the context of South–South migration. Focusingon the cyclical movement of Filipino oil palm workers between thePhilippine province of Palawan and the Malaysian State of Sabah, weshow how migrants transmit social remittances, such as ideas of pros-perity associated with oil palm development and knowledge of pro-duction practices and land impacts of oil palm plantations. Thesesocial remittances affect farmers’ decisions to engage in oil palmdevelopment within the migrants’ home province, possibly transform-ing subsistence agricultural systems into large-scale, monocrop planta-tions. We argue that such land development outcomes are anunderstudied aspect of how migration affects developing countries,especially in the context of South–South migration. Research findingsalso suggest how migrants’ social remittances are transmitted, diffused,and utilized at broader social and political units, beyond returnmigrants’ households and immediate communities in Palawan. Deci-sion outcomes, however, are variable, with households and communi-ties either engaging in or opposing oil palm development, dependingon how social remittances are interpreted.