Anna Lindley

Bio: Anna Lindley is an academic researcher from SOAS, University of London. The author has contributed to research in topics: Somali & Refugee. The author has an hindex of 18, co-authored 44 publications receiving 1056 citations. Previous affiliations of Anna Lindley include University of Oxford.

The Early-Morning Phonecall: Remittances from a Refugee Diaspora Perspective

Abstract: Remittances are an important strand in the relationship between migration and socio-economic change in migrants’ countries of origin and there is growing interest in their role in conflict and post-conflict countries. Yet little is known about remittances from the diaspora perspective, and much less about refugees remitting. This paper makes three contributions, based on analysis of survey and ethnographic evidence on the remittance experiences of Somali refugees in London. First, it argues that the diaspora perspective is a critical element in understanding remittance processes, and that remitting can have substantial repercussions for migrants. Second, it argues that, just as migrants are not ‘just labour’, remittances are not ‘just money’, pointing to the importance of analysing the social texture of the remittance process. Third, it argues that the nature of forced migration may shape remitting in ways which merit further exploration.

The Early Morning Phone Call: Somali Refugees' Remittances

Abstract: List of Illustrations and Tables Acknowledgements Abbreviations Chapter 1. Migration, Conflict and Development: Situating Refugees' Remittances Migration-Development Linkages Conflict and Local-Global Connections The Livelihoods of Refugees Approach Chapter 2. The Somali Context: People and Money on the Move Nomadism, Sedentarism, Urbanisation Extra-regional Connections Postcolonial Republic: Refugee Arrivals, Labour Migrants and Political Exiles Civil War and Diasporisation Feedback: a Wartime Remittance Economy Xawilaad: Crisis as a Business Opportunity From 'Dirty Money' to 'Humanitarian Lifeline'? Beyond Collapse: Grasping Continuities and Change Chapter 3. Migration and Remittances in a Precarious State: the View from Hargeisa Oppression, Insurgency and Crisis: Diaspora Dimensions From Translocal to Transnational Families Coping in a Tough Economy Investing Diaspora Capital Following the Money into the Wider Community The Diaspora in Post-Conflict Politics and Development Beyond Complacency: Migration-Conflict-Development Contingencies Chapter 4. Traffic at a Global Crossroads: Eastleigh, Nairobi From the Northern Frontier to New Horizons in Nairobi Remittance Traffic, Mobility and Strategic Households Going into Business A Global Crossroads Beyond Categories: Making a Living, Circulation and Containment Chapter 5. The North-South Divide in Everyday Life: Londoners Sending Money 'Home' Seeking Asylum Settling in a Global City Who Pays the Biil? The Social Micro-dynamics of Remittances Economic Sacrifices and Strategies, Social Reaffirmation and Tensions Beyond Economics: the Violent Origins and Social Texture of Remitting Chapter 6. Concluding Reflections Glossary References Index

Between ‘Dirty Money’ and ‘Development Capital’: Somali Money Transfer Infrastructure Under Global Scrutiny

Abstract: Money transfer infrastructures have come to play a prominent role in the Somali regions, connecting war-torn cities, refugee camps, and remote rural areas with the rest of the world Drawing on primary research, this article provides the first detailed history of the development of Somali money transfer infrastructure since the civil war, including its response to international intervention The account raises issues of wider significance relating to recent debates on migrants’ remittances, informal economies and conflict In particular, the money transfer story demonstrates how crisis can become an opportunity for adaptive commercial actors using social ties to navigate the dangers of civil war Meanwhile, the international community's attempts to define Somali money transfers as either dirty money or development capital demonstrate a more general ambivalence towards ‘actually existing developments’ in conflict-affected Africa

New Europeans on the Move: A preliminary review of the onward migration of refugees within the European Union

Abstract: The onward movement of new citizens of refugee backgrounds within the European Union is an apparently growing pattern in European mobility which has largely been overlooked. This paper reviews the still limited evidence relating to these movements, focusing on the relocation of Somali and Tamil Sri Lankan Europeans from continental Europe to the UK, and discusses the conceptual and practical issues raised by this mobility, outlining an agenda for future research.

Migration and Development: A Theoretical Perspective

Abstract: The debate on migration and development has swung back and forth like a pendulum, from developmentalist optimism in the 1950s and 1960s, to neo-Marxist pessimism over the 1970s and 1980s, towards more optimistic views in the 1990s and 2000s. This paper argues how such discursive shifts in the migration and development debate should be primarily seen as part of more general paradigm shifts in social and development theory. However, the classical opposition between pessimistic and optimistic views is challenged by empirical evidence pointing to the heterogeneity of migration impacts. By integrating and amending insights from the new economics of labor migration, livelihood perspectives in development studies and transnational perspectives in migration studies – which share several though as yet unobserved conceptual parallels – this paper elaborates the contours of a conceptual framework that simultaneously integrates agency and structure perspectives and is therefore able to account for the heterogeneous nature of migration-development interactions. The resulting perspective reveals the naivety of recent views celebrating migration as self-help development “from below”. These views are largely ideologically driven and shift the attention away from structural constraints and the vital role of states in shaping favorable conditions for positive development impacts of migration to occur.

Post-conflict risks

Abstract: Post-conflict societies face two distinctive challenges: economic recovery and reduction of the risk of a recurring conflict. Aid and policy reforms have been found to be effective in economic recovery. In this article, the authors concentrate on the other challenge — risk reduction. The post-conflict peace is typically fragile: nearly half of all civil wars are due to post-conflict relapses. The authors find that economic development substantially reduces risks, but it takes a long time. They also find evidence that UN peacekeeping expenditures significantly reduce the risk of renewed war. The effect is large: doubling expenditure reduces the risk from 40% to 31%. In contrast to these results, the authors cannot find any systematic influence of elections on the reduction of war risk. Therefore, post-conflict elections should be promoted as intrinsically desirable rather than as mechanisms for increasing the durability of the post-conflict peace. Based on these results, the authors suggest that peace appe...