Transnational Families Research Articles

A conceptual framework studying transnational immigrant family experiences: The phenomenon of Chinese seasonal parents/grandparents in New Zealand

AbstractDespite heightened scholarly attention paid to transnational immigrant families since the 1990s, a systematic analysis framework explaining the formation of these family experiences has been absent. Building on a 3‐year qualitative research project (2017–2020) investigating the multigenerational dynamics of new Chinese immigrant families from the People's Republic of China living in New Zealand, through exploring the formation of the seasonal parents/grandparents phenomenon within those families, this paper introduces an analysis framework to systematically interrogate the factors shaping diverse transnational family experiences. The proposed analysis framework builds upon an inclusive paradigm, which allows the future investigation of transnational family experience to trace multilevel impact factors behind its formation (i.e., microlevel family dynamics, mesolevel living environment and macrolevel institutional foundations). Additionally, it also highlights the interactivity of those diverse impact factors within and across different levels, as well as the spatial and temporal dimensions of transnational family lives.

Love’s Labour’s Lost? Separation as a Constraint on Displays of Transnational Daughterhood

This article develops sociological knowledge on daughterhood through an analysis of how separation shapes the emotional and moral dynamics of transnational daughterhood. Building on Finch, we look at daughtering as a set of concrete social practices that constitute kinship and carry the symbolic dimension of displaying the family-like character of relationships. Within this framework, we analyse how Latin American women living in Barcelona discuss their transnational family lives and filial responsibilities. We see family as finite, evolving in the past, present and future, and develop a threefold understanding of filial love as an institution imbued with formal expectations, a strong and complex emotion, and reciprocal embodied caring. We consider persisting physical separation in migration as a circumstance that demands not only practical solutions but also ongoing moral labour that sustains transnational bonds and notions of being a ‘good enough’ daughter.

Un cercueil dans la cour : des funérailles évangéliques dans une famille transnationale haïtienne

Si les funérailles en milieu vodou haïtien ont fait l’objet de l’attention des anthropologues, on sait peu de choses sur la manière dont elles sont organisées et réalisées par les familles et les églises évangéliques. Cet article propose une étude détaillée d’un cas ethnographique de funérailles évangéliques, objet d’un coup de théâtre, dans les mornes du sud-ouest d’Haïti au sein d’une famille dont de nombreux membres appartiennent à la diaspora. La première partie décrit le rituel, depuis le traitement du corps du défunt jusqu’au culte d’enterrement. La deuxième partie analyse ces funérailles et en particulier les conflits auxquelles elles donnent lieu, à travers deux dynamiques sociales qui s’y donnent à voir, celle du changement religieux avec la conversion massive de populations rurales au protestantisme évangélique et pentecôtiste et celle de la migration avec, dans la plupart des familles haïtiennes, des parents vivant à l’étranger.

Unsettled settlement? Translocal social anchoring and patterns of (im)mobility among Polish families in rural Norway

Whilst the transnational family life of post-accession intra-European migrants has been extensively explored, past studies have rarely addressed its local dimension. The relatively recent international migration patterns to rural areas in Europe provide opportunities to explore this particular aspect. Drawing on ethnographic data from Polish migrant families and young couples in rural Norway, we investigate the relationship between the settlement of the migrants in a specific rural locality and the dynamic of their cross-border and cross-local patterns of mobility. Using notions of translocalism and social anchoring, the article offers insights into how migrants' lives as couples and families become gradually reoriented as they settle in the rural host context and how the conditions for maintaining family relationships in Poland change at the same time. We illustrate how migrants' search for stability in their lives in the host location is associated with the question of family reunion, their position on the local labour market, purchase of houses and development of place attachment. At the same time, the settlement process breeds ambivalence as it requires migrants to adjust to the new life setting and continually navigate and negotiate the family life across home and host context. The ability of migrants to organise their translocal life satisfactorily depends on and reflects their overall level of integration locally and nationally.

The Cost of “A Better Life”: Children Left Behind—Beyond Ambiguous Loss

Aim: The aim of the study is to learn how children left behind in El Salvador and Nicaragua, due to parental migration, experience care across borders. Demographics: 80 participants: adolescents ( n = 21; age 13–18 years; 11 females and 10 males); emerging adults ( n = 10; age 19–30 years; whose parents had migrated when they were children); grandparents and guardians caring for children whose parents had migrated ( n = 14; 12 females and 2 males); professionals (social workers, nurses, lawyers, and teachers); and community leaders involved and/or working directly with children and youth whose parents had immigrated ( n = 35). Methodology: Using grounded theory, the study began with one sensitizing concept: parental migration. Analysis: Modified grounded theory principles centered the exploratory nature of the study. Findings: The reconfiguration of the family after parental migration did not meet the emotional needs of children, challenging notions of a “better life.” Implications: These experiences are redefining notions of the transnational family through new geographies of care.

A REPERTOIRE OF EVERYDAY RESISTANCE AND TECHNOLOGICAL (IN)SECURITY: CONSTRUCTING THE ROHINGYA DIASPORA AND TRANSNATIONAL IDENTITY POLITICS ON SOCIAL MEDIA

This paper explores how transnational identities are negotiated through digital and social media use, and how the narratives online contribute to Rohingya transnational identity. Recent studies have made significant strides in understanding refugees’ media practices during migration, transnational family ties, settlement in a host society. However, little attention has been paid to more nuanced understanding every day of risks and opportunities of digital media practice in the context of conflict and forced migration. Drawing on a qualitative approach of semi-structured and social media scroll back interviews methods, I investigate the use of technologies in their everyday experiences of prolonged displacement in the Cox’s Bazar refugee camp, Bangladesh and among resettled refugees in Brisbane, Australia, both distinct but interconnected within a power structure. The findings expose the ‘double-edged’ nature of communication technologies. While most participants think technologies have been a lifeline for their survival, participants from the Cox’s Bazar refugee camp show that security and surveillance are key concerns for members of the Rohingya diaspora. In this paper, I argue that although digital and social media offer a niche of a repertoire of resistance and the rise of a new form of community in a context of statelessness, the use of such technologies can be juxtaposed with the consequence of digital surveillance and victimisation in everyday life in a refugee camp. By focusing on both urban and refugee camp settings, this paper offers critical insights into power inequalities and transnational diaspora activism, authoritarian politics, specifically its mediation by digital technologies.

BETWEEN INCLUSION & EXCLUSION: THE DIGITAL LIVES OF UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS IN THE UNITED STATES

Undocumented immigrants are a highly vulnerable group that can both benefit and suffer from digital technologies. However, little is known about their digital inclusion and the ways in which this amplifies or attenuates the vulnerabilities of their undocumented status. This paper provides rare and novel evidence from 44 in-depth interviews with undocumented Latino immigrants in the United States. It reports on findings regarding the digital employment of undocumented immigrants, the use of the internet in supporting their transnational family practices, and their uses and attitudes towards telehealth services. It highlights the importance of providing insight and analysis on digital life at the margins of society.

The family as a space: multilingual repertoires, language practices and lived experiences

ABSTRACT The field of family language policy has flourished in recent years addressing an ever-increasing breadth of transnational populations, family types, and linguistic configurations. Furthermore, diverse established and innovative methodological approaches have unlatched the door to enhanced understandings of family multilingualism. A focus on ethnographic approaches is in line with current trends in sociolinguistic enquiry, providing deep insight into multilingual families, as demonstrated by this thematic issue on ‘Exploring the multilingual family repertoire: Ethnographic approaches’, edited by Luk Van Mensel and Maartje De Meulder. An underlying current in the studies of this special issue is the notion of the family as a space, negotiated through the multilingual family repertoire – multilingual practices that embrace the speakers’ lived experiences. This concluding discussion analyzes the ways in which the four articles address the family as a multilingual space and highlights some of the more salient aspects that deserve further attention, looking beyond at new potential approaches to critically addressing family multilingualism.

COVID-19, Nation-States and Fragile Transnationalism

In this intervention, we discuss how the COVID-19 pandemic has reconfigured transnational mobilities, connections, and solidarities, which reveals the fragility of transnationalism predicated on cosmopolitan ethics but rooted in nation-level politics. We show that as the pandemic severely disrupted transnational (infra)structures predicated on state-centric transnationalism from above, the survival and well-being of diverse transnationally mobile groups, such as refugees, transnational families, and international students, have been placed under unprecedented threat. In doing so, we reflect on the configurations of transnationalism in sociological understandings of globalisation, in and beyond the context of COVID-19. We advance an urgent call for action to address the consequences of the pandemic for vulnerable people who lead precarious lives in a transnational limbo caught in the gaps between nation-states.

Discourses between the Public and the Private: Transnational Families at the Crossroads

AbstractRaising a child is a challenging venture, regardless of where one lives in the world. Most children are raised in their families; however, many states have welfare services if the child’s well-being is at stake. Scandinavian countries follow a rather strict policy in placing the child’s individual rights above those of the family, and Norway has child welfare legislation that applies to all children in the country, regardless of their status, nationality or citizenship. This institutional structure has raised issues about how family life is negotiated in society. In this article, we analyze the ways in which language and culture are used to address expectations of (good) normal family life in both private and public discourses with implications for transnational families. We thus problematize the notion of the family as a private domain or space. Furthermore, by examining institutional involvement in child-rearing, we extend research on family language policy to contexts of foster care. We thereby raise the discussion to a societal level about private and public expectations towards family life in a late-modern society.

Materialising Care across Borders: Sent Things and Family Ties between Sweden and Ukraine

This article is an exploration of transnational family links and how they are materialised. Based on interviews with Ukrainian migrants living in Sweden, we discuss different dimensions of the everyday practices of sending things back and forth between family members. We find that what these packages embody and represent are more complex than tropes of economic need, obligation and responsibility allow for. Of course, in many senses they do reveal stories of highly gendered practices of care and duty, and economic divides between Sweden and Ukraine. We find, however, that they are also stories of mutuality, love, fun and shifting post-Soviet subjectivities. This article then both underlines the enduring importance of physical things in maintaining close family connections across distance and reminds us that these material connections are not fixed but instead are mutable circulations, shaping and shaped by generational change and lifecourse experiences.

It … he [the Moon] didn’t look tasty! Transnational children’s use of metaphors as a transcultural tool to gain symbolic power in family discourse

ABSTRACT The aim of this study is to set out to explore how children living in Polish-English transnational families in the UK develop symbolic competence and symbolic power in home settings. By focusing on the children’s use of metaphor in family discourse when talking about the Moon, from a cognitive discursive perspective, this study explores the children’s creative use of language in achieving their social goals. It moves beyond seeing language, cognition and culture as bounded systems but rather powerful meaning-making resources that are part of the children’s complex discourse-worlds. The findings show how transnational families provide children rich opportunities to develop intercultural or ‘transcultural’ competence.

결혼이주여성의 초국가적 가족연계: 결혼이주여성 본국 가족과의 동거 현황과 결정요인에 대한 탐색적 연구

이 연구는 한국사회에서 다문화가족의 초국가적 가족연계에 대한 관심이 부족하다는 점에서 출발하였다. 우리나라는 원칙적으로 가족 단위의 이민을 허락하지 않지만 2012년 결혼이주여성들의 초기 정착 및 출산과 양육지원을 위하여 가족초청제도가 도입되었다. 따라서 결혼이주여성들의 본국 가족들이 합법적으로 한국에서 일정기간 함께 살면서 여러 가지 지원 제공을 할 수 있다. 그러나 결혼이주여성들의 본국 가족 동거 현상 및 차별적 결정요인에 대해서는 잘 알려진 바 없다. 2018년 전국다문화가족실태 조사자료를 분석한 결과, 결혼이주여성 중 5% 정도만 현재 본국 가족과 함께 살고 있으며 어머니와 함께 사는 비율이 압도적으로 높다. 베트남과 중국(조선족과 한족) 출신이 본국 가족과 동거하는 비율이 높으며, 여성의 경제활동, 미취학 자녀 수, 본국 가족을 한국에 초청한 경험, 가구소득이 본국 가족과의 동거 확률에 정적인 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 반면 결혼이주여성의 연령, 결혼기간, 한국인 배우자의 부모님과 동거는 본국 가족과의 동거 확률을 낮추었다. 즉 동일한 제도적 여건하에서도 가족에 대한 문화적 가치관, 현실적인 경제적 조건, 여성의 경제활동, 과거 교류 경험이 동거의 차이를 나타냄을 알 수 있다. 본국 가족 중 어머니, 부모님 모두, 여자형제와 사는 경우로 구분하여 살펴보면, 미취학 아동수와 과거 결혼이주여성의 본국 가족을 한국으로 초청했던 경험만 일관적으로 동거확률을 높이는 것으로 나타났다. 즉 과거 교류 경험이 중요하며 결혼이주여성의 자녀양육 및 돌봄에 대한 책임을 덜어주기 위해 본국 가족과의 동거가 일어나는 것으로 이해할 수 있다. 결혼이주여성의 초국가적 가족연계를 보다 면밀히 살펴보기 위하여 관련 자료 수집 및 사회적, 학문적 관심이 요구된다.

Remittance Flows from Healthcare Workers in Toronto, Canada

Previous research indicates that Canadian healthcare workers, particularly long-term care (LTC) workers, are frequently composed of immigrant and racialized/visible minorities (VM) who are often precariously employed, underpaid, and face significant work-related stress, violence, injuries, illness, and health inequities. Few studies, however, have analyzed the contributions and impact of their labor in international contexts and on global communities. For instance, it is estimated that over CAD 5 billion-worth of remittances originate from Canada, yet no studies to date have examined the contributions of these remittances from Canadian workers, especially from urbanized regions consisting of VM and immigrants who live and/or work in diverse and multicultural places like Toronto. The present study is the first to investigate health and LTC workers’ roles and behaviors as related to remittances. The rationale for this study is to fill important knowledge gaps. Accordingly, this study asked: Do health/LTC workers in the site of study send remittances? If so, which workers send remittances, and who are the recipients of these remittances? What is the range of monetary value of annual remittances that each worker is able to send? What is the purpose of these remittances? What motivates the decision to send remittances? This mixed-methods study used a single-case design and relied on interviews and a survey. The results indicate that many LTC workers provided significant financial support to transnational families, up to CAD 15,000 annually, for a variety of reasons, including support for education and healthcare costs, or as gifts during cultural festivals. However, the inability to send remittances was also a source of distress for those who wanted to assist their families but were unable to do so. These findings raise important questions that could be directed for future research. For example, are there circumstances under which financial remittances are funded through loans or debt? What are the implications for the sustainability and impact of remittances, given the current COVID-19 pandemic and its economic effect of dampening incomes and wages, worsening migrants’ health, wellbeing, and quality of life, as well as adversely affecting recipient economies and the quality of life of global communities?

Affectionate remittances: Materialism and care in Filipino transnational families in Japan

In this article, the author interrogates how Filipino transnational families in Japan circulate love and care through material exchanges and economic transactions. Specifically, the author explains how and why the Filipino traditions of gift-giving and the sending of balikbayan boxes are closely linked to the creation, embodiment and maintenance of familial ties and belonging, despite geographical dispersion. Also, the article shows how the parenting of children is not a dichotomous process between parents and children, but rather, is a wider process of care circulation undertaken by the entire family unit. The rich narratives presented are drawn from a larger multi-sited ethnographic study that was conducted in Japan and the Philippines with migrants and their family members.

Unboxing care: Constructions of happiness and gratitude in a Brazilian transnational family’s video production in the United States

This case study examines the co-authoring of unboxing videos by one six-year-old, second-generation Brazilian immigrant child and her mother in the United States. These videos were created in response to boxes filled with gifts they received yearly from relatives in Brazil. To understand this mother-daughter dyad and their video production, this study draws on metaphors of mobility, the logics of reciprocity and obligation in gift-exchange, and the concept of care constellations. The analysis of interviews, field notes, and unboxing videos identified specific routes, rhythms, and frictions that fueled this family digital literacy practice. It also suggested that participants were implicated in a pattern of caregiving through a transnational cycle of gift-exchange. These findings disrupt typical framings of the unboxing genre as a manifestation of U.S. capitalist ethos and foreground the material and discursive production of care in a transnational family’s digital literacy practice.

Family Separation and Everyday (In)Security in the Lives of Unaccompanied Refugee Minors

This article examines the impact of family separation on the organization of everyday security among unaccompanied refugee minors living in Finland. By focusing on the concept of everyday (in)security, this article analyses the consequences of the recent political decisions on young refugees’ family connections. The data in this study includes interviews among 16 Afghani, Iraqi, Ethiopian and Somali refugees who have attained residency in Finland and who are attempting to bring family members to the country via family reunification. The data is analysed using categorization analysis. I found four main ways though which young refugees establish security in their often insecure lives. First, the youth constructed collective identities which connected their lives with their transnational families and gave a purpose in life. Second, they turned to religion and created ontological securities. Third, the youth wanted to live ‘ordinary’ lives. Fourth, they also engaged in enacting political citizenship.

Book Review: The Labor of Care: Filipina Migrants and Transnational Families in the Digital Age, by Valerie-Francisco-Menchavez

Book Review: The Labor of Care: Filipina Migrants and Transnational Families in the Digital Age, by Valerie-Francisco-Menchavez

Introduction to Special Issue: Gender, Migration and Digital Communication in Asia

In recent decades, the role of digital communication in the lives of migrants in Asia has greatly expanded, becoming integral to the decision to migrate, earning a living, and the practice of keeping in touch with left-behind families and friends. The papers in this Special Issue foreground how gender structures and practices within migrant households and the wider political economy shape migrants’ digital communications. They expand the breadth of our thinking about the interlinkages among gender, migration and digital communication from a range of new subject positions including transnational families, international students, and marginalized minorities in the region.

Watching them grow: Intergenerational video‐calling among transnational families in the age of smartphones

AbstractThis paper investigates the novel forms of intergenerational communication in transnational families introduced by the widespread use of video‐calls on smartphones. Centring on the kin‐keeping role of the mother, the study analyses 30 semi‐structured interviews with migrant Turkish mothers living in 10 different countries around the world, as the facilitators of video‐calls and intergenerational mediators. It is argued that smartphone mediated video‐calls add new dimensions to the communication that expand the possibilities of self‐expression and bonding for the migrant child with their grandparents in the form of visual performance, spatial sharing and spatio‐temporal longing, while offering new ways of carrying out traditional grandparenting roles in a digitalized setting. Such intergenerational communication is mediated by migrant mothers as manifested through the practice of simultaneous multigenerational communication engaging all three generations on different forms of exchange enabled by the device itself. Although the new generation born into the digital age struggle with the paradox of separation vis‐à‐vis virtual togetherness, everyday video‐calls on smartphones not only help keep the image of ‘family’ alive for the migrant child, they also generate a circumambient virtual setting that permits the transfer of family culture, knowledge and values wherein the younger generation can learn from the parent–grandparent relationship model.