Translocal social networks as a source of resilience? Conceptual considerations and empirical evidence from rural Northeastern Thailand

As in other Southeast Asian countries, migration is a major livelihood strategy in the rural northeast of Thailand. Both internal and international migration has resulted in the delocalization of rural households’ livelihoods (Rigg et al. 2012) and has fostered the emergence of social networks that span various places and scales (Steinbrink 2009, Brickell and Datta 2011). These translocal networks are facilitating the “flow” of people, resources, ideas and social practices between the areas of origin and destination of migration, and hence are hypothesized as an important source of resilience to climate related risks such as drought and flood (Scheffran et al. 2012, Sakdapolrak et al. 2015). However, there is little empirical evidence on how translocal networks are actually patterned and which “translocal flows” facilitate or even impede the resilience of rural households. 

With this talk I am providing a conceptual framework and methodology for addressing the social resilience of rural household through a translocal network perspective. By applying methods of Social Network Analysis (SNA) I am unraveling the role of translocal social networks with regard to two resilience related aspects of rural livelihoods; a) social support, and b) agricultural innovation. Based on empirical evidence from several months of fieldwork in Northeast Thailand I will argue that translocal social networks are not an equally available resource, but require means in order to be tapped and maintained, and are hinged upon regional development and migration patterns.

Till Rockenbauch is a geographer by training with a focus on development studies and social-ecological systems research, graduated from the University of Bonn. As a research associate and PhD candidate within the TransRe Project (www.transre.org) he is taking a translocal social networks perspective to the resilience of rural communities in rural Thailand. Prior to his PhD position Till gained working experience in the field of German development cooperation. As a policy advisor with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), he was concerned with issues such as agricultural policy, food security, rural development, and smallholder market integration.