Is migration changing the nature of the State?

Migration is an all-encompassing title and needs to be unpacked into the contingent categories to observe its impact on society and the state. And it is not just the traditional external and internal migration but the elements within them. Migration has become a change factor beyond the parameters of most agencies, both formal and informal.
Some scholars are asking if the conventional version of the State applies to Bangladesh or not if the majority is not connected to the national economy which migration has led to. Migration is increasingly pushing the walls of the state and insists that the key aspect that is the definition of the state of change be reflected in the formal instruments of statehood.
That basically means the informal sector is pushing the formal structure. Prior to this, the formal left the informal alone and went ahead. That scenario is changing as the informal becomes more activist. And if the formal face of the State is the constitution, it's the informal behavioral structure of society that is the informal and both may be in conflict of sorts. And it's a meta one about who is in charge and who defines how the state should be described.
One major difference between external and internal migration is that while one is dependent on the national economy the other is not. Hence, ill health hitting the RMG sector will impact on the internal migrants but the external migrant is part of the developed economy which in most cases is better off in crises such as the Covid phase. While reports suggest that a section of the Covid poor are still yet to recover, the external /global economy has generally recovered. And this is where there is a key difference between both.
External migration can be organised around various destinations. The main zones are 1.European migration. 2. Middle East and South African migration. 3. South East Asian migration - Malaysia, Singapore etc. 4. South Asian particularly to India. In the last case we see some instances of social migration such as a section of the Hindu community having split family arrangements where income is earned in BD and India as well where the family lives in many cases of such migrants. This is also common in the UK and North American migration though without any social causation.
While internal migration is limited in its capacity to ensure a better life, it's a positive option for many particularly women whose labour has funded the most popular wealth making in Bangladesh, the RMG sector. That move from the village to the city has of course led to significant changes in the lifestyle of women in both the urban and rural sphere. And it has led to an internal networking process similar to the global economic one in which external migration is located. Meanwhile, the gender factor in RMG related migration has already become one of the most significant triggers of social change.
Villages are changing not just internally but externally and beyond the villages due to migration. As a result, the term "change" itself needs an expansion as change after a point becomes a transformation or transition. In almost all cases, the villages have gone global and migrants are sending /bringing home not just money but new approaches and lifestyles. It also is changing the internal dynamics of villages including the traditional family system.
This is happening through three main processes:
Remittances : It's not only the second highest source of foreign exchange earnings but an equal amount comes into the economy through the informal hundi network which remains outside formal /official calculations. Thus the impact of remittances is not just on the local but "national "economy.
Consumption: Remittance is a major contributor to the expansion of the national economy and the market whether food, house building materials or electronic devices. The rise of consumption has led to overall economic opportunities for the non-migrant populations and produced a new culture where the rural urban divide is much less through common consumption patterns.
State agencies: Local government's as representatives of the formal state have gone deep into the rural zones though there is little evidence that it has been able to exert dominating influences as the guardians of changes as desired by the State.
Locating the relationship between informal needs and formal services delivery is therefore important.
The size of the migrant population – migrants workers and an average family size of 5 -- would make it around 20-25 million x 5 = 100-125 million people. That makes it the majority population of the country of 170-175 million. Even a 20 million reduction would still not change the scenario. Thus they are not a segment but the majority living under the cluster of a new socio-economics.
Similarly, promotion of cultural activities means expansion of their root culture which in this case would mean rural/village culture. Identification of their prime cultural and social activities, funding of the same, reasons for it and linkages with "transitional hybrid" cultural models showing emergence of new models particularly driven by digitalization.
Whether the quantitative change is leading to qualitative change hence transition needs probing.
It seems villages are changing within. They are also leaving an impact nationally. Migration has produced a "global" linkage across Bangladesh creating a new migration economics reality. This has produced extra-village linkages largely ending the old "Village". Meanwhile the State is not sitting idle.
State agencies through local governments are trying to control the rural zones/migration through registration, supervision of informal networks, permissions etc. Its pushing for formalization of the traditional migration system using standard bureaucratic methods and offering some services too.
Ultimately, the rural culture can't be ignored as the challenge grows bigger with an eye on its formalization. Thus a weak constitutional state has also meant a stronger social/informal one. The concept of the State-Village relations as the majority living under the umbrella of migration and the minority outside is pushing this as well. Has the village changed? Has the State changed as a consequence? Is it conflict or reconciliation due to change ?

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