From ‘remittance’ to ‘tax’

The shifting meanings and strategies of capture of the Eritrean transnational party-state

Bibliographic Data

ID12915696
AuthorsSamia Tecle (York University, corresponding author), L Goldring (0000-0001-9211-6745, York University)
Year2013
Volume6
Issue2
Pages189-207
Publication date2013-05-09
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAfrican and Black Diaspora An International Journal (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1752-8631 • E-ISSN: 1752-864X
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/17528631.2013.793137
OpenAlexW2037181089
LanguageEN
Citations received11
References cited50

For decades, mass out migration has remained a defining characteristic of Eritrea. The country's first major refugee crisis occurred in the early 1980s, in the midst of its liberation movement. Upon gaining resettlement in the industrialized world, Eritreans overwhelming continued their support of the liberation war, both financially and politically. Since independence, the ruling government adopted strong measures to ensure the diaspora's continued political and economic engagement. We examine the Eritrean party-state's changing relationship with members of its dispersed population focusing on the evolution of an expatriate tax (2 percent Income Tax on Eritreans Working Abroad) levied on all emigrant Eritreans. Building on work that argues for recognizing the social and political dimensions of money sent ‘home’, this paper makes two contributions. First, we use an historical perspective to show how contextual changes can significantly shift the meanings of remittances, in this case from a voluntary patriotic remittance sent to the liberating government, to a coerced tax. Second, we bring the remittance-tax into the literature on remittances and development, expanding the types of income transfers under consideration. Attention is drawn to the party-state's articulation of the 2 percent Tax policy as a national development imperative and the various transnational governance mechanisms employed to coerce compliance. Citizenship serves as a lens for examining the state's instrumentalization and politicization of the diaspora's engagement with the Eritrean nation

Citizenship · Diaspora · Expatriate · Government (linguistics · Independence (probability theory · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Population · Refugee · Remittance · Sociology · State (computer science · African history and culture analysis · African studies and sociopolitical issues · Diaspora, migration, transnational identity · Law

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