Another area of investigation explores the implications of translocality for development
(Helvoirt 2011; Noorloos 2011). In the article “Translocal Development, Development
Corridors and Development Chains” by Zoomers and Westen (2011), in a special issue of
the International Development Planning Review, translocality is applied to redefine
notions of locally bounded development. The contributions in the Review highlight how
local-to-local connectedness produces both opportunities for and constraints upon people in
their struggle for better livelihoods. The possibilities available for and difficulties encountered
by development cooperation below the level of the state, such as formalised municipal partnerships
(Bontenbal and Lindert 2011) or development projects of migrants’ associations (Grillo
and Riccio 2004; Page and Mercer 2012), are addressed by several authors from a translocal
perspective. Kaag’s (2011) case study from Chad, for example, examines the work of Islamic
NGOs from the Arab world in Africa. Although rather limited in financial volume and economic
impact, the study highlights the nevertheless important political and moral implications
that result fromtheNGOs’ work in connecting the umma (Islamic community). Pointing to the
fact that development is often related to practices of accumulation through extraction, expulsion
and marginalisation of local populations, authors such as Banerjee (2011) andMcFarlane (2009)
highlight the emancipatory potential of translocality. The exchange of ideas, knowledge,practices, materials and resources across places, they argue, is a resource that enables local social
movements to resist or challenge development paths or change them in their favour. Similarly,
using a case study from inhabitants of a squatter settlement in Lisbon, Portugal Horta (2002)
illustrates how translocal forms ofmigrants’ grassroots organisations have become crucial in their
practices of collective mobilisation to negotiate their interests.