Temporary Migration and Changing Family Dynamics: Implications for Social Development Md Mizanur Rahman* Department of Sociology, Sociology, National University of Singapore, Singapore for instance denying the rights of family unifica- tion, long-term residence and settlement. As a result, the common pattern for migrant families is to live under ‘transnationally split’ conditions where non-migrating family members are ‘left behind’ (Yeoh et al., 2002; Piper 2006). Such migra- tion has its own dynamics and often turns out to be less temporary as many migrants extend their contracts a number of times and/or re-migrate upon return at regular intervals. The repeated interactions with fellow workers at the destina- tion country and, on return, with family members and other villagers in the origin country consti- tute significant social interactions which are a potential source for change (Abril and Rogaly, 2001). This phenomenon can be broadly conceptualised within a ‘social development’ framework. The relationship between international migra- tion and economic development in the migrant origin country has been traditionally explained from two contrasting theoretical approaches: the convergence point of view and the divergence point of view (Papademetriou and Martin, 1991; Appleyard, 1992a; Battistella, 1992; Fischer et al., 1997; Sørensen, 2004; Cohen, 2005; Faist, 2008). The convergence school, rooted in neo-liberal economic theory, states that sending areas obtain major benefits from out-migration for their devel- opment process (Hermele, 1997). This approach primarily posits that emigration leads to an improvement in ‘resource availability’ and ‘income distribution’ in origin areas (Spaan et al., 2005). On the other hand, the divergence school argues that out-migration hinders development of the sending regions because it perpetuates a state of economic dependency that undermines prospects for development (Hermele, 1997). Apart from these two perspectives, there also exists a third approach referred to as the ‘time POPULATION, SPACE AND PLACE Popul. Space Place 15, 161–174 (2009) Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com) DOI: 10.1002/psp.537 Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. ABSTRACT Drawing upon longitudinal data, this research documents the relationship between migration and development by highlighting the conditions which promote changes in social and familial relations, social positioning, and intergenerational relationships within the families who experience temporary out- migration and the return of at least one male member. The fieldwork data (based on two surveys) derive from research conducted on Bangladeshi temporary migrants in Singapore and in an ‘origin’ village in Bangladesh in 2001 and 2006. The study reports that male labour migration has contributed to social changes in their own families and villages over time that are most likely to stimulate, in turn, macro-changes in Bangladeshi society in the long run. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Received 4 November 2007; revised 9 July 2008; accepted 15 July 2008 Keywords: temporary migration; labour migration; social development; family relations; social mobility; family dynamics; Bangladesh; Singapore INTRODUCTION I n Asia, temporary contract migration is a pre- dominant type of international migration, typically regulated by strict control measures, * Correspondence to: Md Mizanur Rahman, Department of Sociology, Sociology, National University of Singapore, Singapore. E-mail: Mizan@nus.edu.sg