Abstract
In this chapter the authors set out to examine how migrant families are named and framed in academic publications by Lithuanian researchers published from 2004 to 2017, available in Lithuanian and international academic databases. The authors aim to disclose how Lithuanian academics perceive the change of family boundaries and fluidity of family relations in the context of global migration, and how the meanings of ‘change’ are used within academic publications that have sought to define the migrant family life as ‘troubling’. The analysis of publications presented in this chapter was carried out from January to March 2018. It formed a sub-study of the research project ‘Global Migration and Lithuanian Family: Family Practices, Circulation of Care, and Return Strategies’ (2017–2019), funded by the Lithuanian Research Council. The analysis has revealed that Lithuanian researchers portray migrant families as extended in space, liquid, networked, survived, but unsecure because of ongoing risks as well as experiencing ‘losses’ or/ and ‘gains’. The researchers conclude that portraits presented by the academics are framed by the family ideology, while naming of migrant families highly rely on the images of ‘how a family should be’.
Highlights
There is a large number of publications about institutions portraying migrant families
In our research study we aimed to disclose how the meanings of ‘change’ are used within academic publications that have sought to define the changes of migrant family life as ‘troubling’ (Ribbens McCarthy, Hooper and Gillies, 2013)
We began this chapter with a premise that ‘there is no such thing as ‘the’ transnational family, understood as a uniform family form defined by constant characteristics’ (Baldassar and Merla, 2014: 9)
Summary
There is a large number of publications about institutions portraying migrant families. Earlier research on representations of migrant families in the mass media highlighted the spread of ‘container categories’ (Lewis, 2006) used to depict the ‘otherness’ of the migrants. The academics view these categories as reflecting the political discourse and playing an important role in sustaining the dominant ideology (Gitlin, 2003). The language of family in mass media representations works as an ‘institutional regime’, because the ‘point of reference in everyday language’ (Gilding, 2010: 774) rests on the dominant family discourse and follows the guidelines embedded at a macro-level, within the national legislation and policy documents
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