The papers in this policy arena identify and analyse the relationship between processes of migration and staying put. While livelihood strategies are diverse and multiple, for many poor people, migration represents a central component of these. Indeed, many studies on migration and development tend to focus on who and why people move, and the causes and consequences of their movement. However, these explanations rarely explore why some people stay put or are left behind in a context where others are moving, the consequences of staying put in an environment characterized by out-migration and the inter-dependent relationship between those who migrate and those who remain. Yet those who stay behind are clearly as embedded in migratory processes as migrants themselves (see McDowell and de Haan, 1997). This policy arena addresses the various processes which compel some people to move, but which also exclude others from adopting migration as a livelihood strategy. There are those whose social, cultural, economic and political exclusion make them unable to move and those who choose not to move and who subsequently stay put. The relationship between migrants and those who stay is articulated through the establishment of networks and institutions linking home and away and by the sending and receiving of remittances. This policy arena shows how those who move and those who stay are inter-connected, their experiences shaped by their economic and social contexts and relations.
The first paper by Uma Kothari examines the relationship between migration, staying put and poverty. The concept of social exclusion is used to identify the dynamics that influence the characteristics of those who stay put, and the processes by which they are excluded from, or choose not to move. Indeed, migration presents a paradox; for many, moving from one place to another does not make them better off, indeed some become further impoverished by migrating. Consequently staying put may be a more successful livelihood strategy. This article explores these issues by examining the circumstances under which staying put means staying poor and the conditions that can present an