Abstract
In Pipariya, an ethnically mixed village in the Chitwan district of Nepal, young Tharu men are migrating for labor to the Arab Gulf countries and Malaysia. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork, this project examines motivations to migrate as well as the impact of remittances on the stay-home population. I argue that migration is a strategy utilized by Tharu households to pursue upward social mobility in a multi-ethnic context. Remittances, as a social agreement and the material outcome of migration, increase the family’s income, enabling a reduction in social class differences and the redefinition of traditional women’s roles.
Recommended Citation
Grimaldi, Andrea D., "When the Young Men Leave: Social Implications of Migration and Remittances among the Tharu of Chitwan, Nepal" (2016). Anthropology Honors Projects. 27.
https://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/anth_honors/27
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Comments
This thesis focuses on international labor migration as a strategy utilized by Tharu households to pursue upward social mobility in a multi-ethnic context. Remittances, as a social agreement and the material outcome of migration, increase the family’s income, enabling a reduction in social class differences and the redefinition of traditional women’s roles. The findings of this thesis are based on ethnographic researched conducted in the ethnically-mixed village of Pipariya, in Chitwan, Nepal.