Migrants as Agents of Local Development in Their Homeland: Practices of Transnational Solidarity From Tuscany to Senegal

Abstract

The article examines the practices of Senegalese migrants involved in collective solidarity initiatives towards their country of origin, reflecting on their role as agents of development and social change. Drawing on qualitative research conducted in Tuscany, it analyses four types of aid initiatives—village-based, religious, secular-multi-ethnic and international cooperation—through in-depth interviews with key actors from both formal and informal groups. The findings highlight how group organisational structures shape both the nature of the initiatives directed towards Senegal and their effectiveness within the broader migration–development nexus. Furthermore, they reveal how different solidarity actions express, in varying ways, the migrants’ bond with their homeland through implicit registers of meaning that forge relationships between promoters and beneficiaries. By engaging with analytical perspectives such as circular migration, flexible return strategies, translocality and transnational development approaches, the article proposes a critical analysis of the migration-development ‘mantra’, underscoring the need to move beyond simplistic or instrumental rhetoric, often dominated by destination countries.