International Journal of Social Science Research (IJSSR)

Negotiating Structure and Agency: Remittances, Belonging, and Identity among Kerala’s In-Migrants

Internal migration has become central to Kerala’s contemporary labour economy, yet migrant workers from North and Northeast India continue to occupy socially precarious positions within the state. While Kerala’s development model depends increasingly on migrant labour, questions of belonging, recognition, and welfare access remain unevenly negotiated. This article examines how migrant workers navigate remittances, identity, labour precarity, and everyday exclusion in Pathanamthitta district, Kerala. Drawing on mixed-methods fieldwork conducted between 2024 and 2025, including surveys, semi-structured interviews, and ethnographic observations, the study argues that migration is not merely an economic process but a deeply emotional and relational experience. Remittances emerge as moral obligations tied to dignity, care, and familial belonging rather than simple financial transfers. At the same time, migrants encounter symbolic and institutional forms of exclusion through linguistic hierarchies, insecure housing, labour segmentation, and the discourse of athithi thozhilali (“guest worker”), which frames them as economically necessary yet socially temporary. Rather than romanticising resilience, the article highlights the everyday improvisations through which migrants endure uncertainty and negotiate partial belonging. The paper argues that Kerala’s migrant regime reveals differentiated forms of citizenship within the Indian nation-state, where formal mobility coexists with unequal recognition and conditional social membership. Keywords: internal migration, remittances, belonging, labour precarity, identity, translocality