Paper long abstract:

Remittances can be considered as the physical expression of a wider fact: the migratory phaenomenon. Insofar the express this phenomenon, they are traversed by a plurality of meanings that go beyond the economic.

Taking a study of migration in Ecuador as departure point, this paper will approach some of its social and cultural meanings: the role of remittances in the transformation of the local imaginary, their role in the introduction of new elements of status, or their symbolism as a way for the migrants to "return " and at the same time as physical proof of the success of the migrant, and as an element that can make sense of the migratory project.

The paper will also address other meanings that remittances may have in the domestic sphere, such as the nature of solidarity, care and responsibility that they may have, or their role as an expression of affection and as reinforcement of the construction of family ties in the distance.