The Effects of Seasonal Migration on Rural Social Capital: A Case of Chhattisgarh, India

Seasonal migration has become an increasingly important part of the livelihood strategies formed and used by smallholders in many rural and especially agricultural economies. It has become one of the main livelihood activities of smallholders during lean agricultural seasons in Chhattisgarh, India. While this activity supplements rurally earned incomes, it also has other effects, and this study points towards some of the social effects, on the migrant as well as on the household and rural community, which result from an absence of some members of the community caused by seasonal migration. Social capital is studied in terms of trust, norms and networks of the migrant and of the community, and the effect of seasonal migration on each of these components is looked at. While trust is barely affected, other aspects of social capital are severely affected by the absence due to migration and some are found to be declining in the countryside anyway. This change in rural society has implications that must be considered to gain a holistic view of migration or to formulate policy regarding migration.