Paper short abstract:

This paper asks for the motives of the middle class to support distant relatives. Reasons include the increase of social capital and involvement in decision-making.

Paper long abstract:

In this presentation, I will tackle the question for what motives rich relatives engage in supporting geographically distant youngsters. Many of my Kenyan middle class informants received financial support from relatives for studies or other projects. A certain 'development mindedness' (Geißler and Prince, 2010) can be inferred, however, motives are not altogether altruistic. I argue that support of distant relatives does not only show one still cares, but guarantees being involved in crucial family matters. Pamich, for instance, makes sure that others within his kinship network know he is supporting relatives by covering their school fees. By that he publicly demonstrates his generosity and financial capability. Moreover, it increases the social capital of a donor and mentor and, if successful, leads to the reproduction of class, so his plan. Following this model and becoming a donor was even mentioned as career aim of ambitious middle class youngsters.