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This paper focuses on the ways in which children negotiate complex transnational identities and roles. Based on research amongst Bangladeshi children living in East London in families who maintain transnational linkages with Bangladesh, the paper draws attention to the ways in which British-born Bangladeshi children are mobile not only across places but also across time. The paper also draws upon Katz' notion of ‘emplacement’, with its focus on political and economic processes, and indicates the significance of children's mobility. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper argues for a more precise and context specific understanding of mechanisms of 'informal social protection' in Bangladesh. The context is a 'Londoni' village in Sylhet which has high levels of internal and overseas migration. The economic boom caused by the latter provides important employment opportunities for people from much poorer areas of Bangladesh, who have moved into the area. Yet, as our findings show, the extent to which the poor can call upon the help and protection of rich overseas migrants depends upon the degree of closeness to, or separation from, them. This is marked both through real and fictive kinship as well as geography: those that come from nearby become 'our own poor', whereas those from further away are treated as 'outsiders', not qualifying for significant 'help'. As the paper argues, access to hierarchically ordered places is vital for the sustainability of precarious livelihoods. Yet whilst geographical movement is an important survival strategy for the poor, it is only when social relations are established with wealthy patrons that it can be said to contribute to informal social protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]