WHERE “EVERYONE” HAS MIGRATED: EXPLORING SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION UNDER THE IMPACT OF LABOUR MIGRATION

Abstract: In this thesis, I have attempted to understand what meaning the phenomenon of labour migration holds for members of the sending communities and what are the contours of change in the social structure and cultural imagination of the sending community as a result of this migration. The primary field work was carried out in Palasi village of Araria district in Bihar, India. I have employed Portes’ (2010) model of culture and social structure to shape my analysis of social transformation. There are two core arguments in my analysis: i) that the lived experience of migration in this sending community calls for a rethinking of the categories and binaries within the existing literature on migration studies and ii) that sustained outmigration of labour has caused significant changes in the agricultural organization and in other visible aspects of social relations although the essential value system and power structure of the community remain entrenched.