Moving far away to stay: translocal livelihoods, labour migration corridors and mobility in rural Nicaragua

Griet Steel, Nanneke Winters and Carlos Sosa bring our attention to Nicaragua (with continuous flow of people moving forward and backward to Costa Rica and the US), where temporary migration help people, men and women, to achieving socio-economic improvement in their home community. This chapter analyses how labour migration flows of male household members, single mothers and young couples shape livelihoods in rural Nicaragua. It argues that rural households consider different types of movement as important strategies for achieving socio-economic improvement in their home community. In turn, these mobility-based strategies result in development corridors between people and places. Moreover, the chapter shows how mobility, like any other livelihood asset, is played out in unequal power relations that affect its experience and potential. Building on a translocal approach, the chapter contributes to a dynamic and multi-dimensional understanding of the linkages between migration and development through a consideration of development corridors and the relational (im)mobilities involved. This way, it illustrates the clear need for more sustained policy attention for the diversity of mobilities, immobilities and translocal connections that are part of labour migration flows.