Part of INCITE's Research and Empirical Analysis of Labor Migration (REALM) program, the Imagined Futures project leverages research collaborations in Kerala, Sri Lanka, and Mizoram to build a cross-context comparative analysis of how international migration has shaped the way young people in migrant-sending countries imagine their future trajectories. We thus both gain a better understanding of how migration to the GCC shapes sending communities even among those who do not migrate, and can anticipate how the younger generation of potential migrants perceive and engage with the experience of migration. By framing migration as a project that extends beyond financial costs and benefits into the realm of social and moral considerations, we seek to push the scholarly and policy conversation about migration beyond one of economic rationality, to understand the complex motives and considerations of individuals who decide to leave their homes in search of work.

This project draws on a sample of roughly 240 participants across three sites, and employs both qualitative interview approaches and sequence data. This project is the final output of the REALM program, and builds on the collaborative opportunities between REALM investigators across a diverse set of sites and institutions.

Special thanks to the students at City University of New York who have participated in interviews for the project.