scholarly journals Transnational Somali Families in Cairo

Refuge ◽  
2007 ◽  
pp. 88-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mulki Al-Sharmani

In this article, I examine how diasporic Somalis in Cairo experience being part of transnational families. I analyze two practices through which transnational family relations are maintained, experienced, and negotiated: (1) living arrangements of relatives and management of family affairs and (2) the use of the Internet and videotapes. I argue that transnational families make collective decisions about which family members live together, where, and what their family obligations should be. However, although maintaining interdependent transnational families is crucial for the survival of family members, it has its tensions and challenges because of the competing interests and dreams of individual members. I examine these tensions and how they are negotiated by family members who live together in Cairo but share resources and family obligations with relatives living elsewhere. In short, this way of being and living in which individuals and families partake as they are physically separated in different nation- states has its uneven consequences and challenges for different Somalis depending on their legal statuses, education, gender, and identity claims.

2019 ◽  
Vol 173 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xinyu Zhao

This article investigates Chinese international students’ everyday transnational family practices through the use of social media. Specifically, the article highlights the relevance of two interlinked forms of disconnection in these students’ daily negotiations of ambivalent cross-border family relations in an age of always-on connectivity. The first form involves their disconnection from the general public via their creation of intimate spaces on social media that are exclusive to their family members. The second form involves the students detaching themselves from such intimate spaces, often temporarily, to escape and resist familial control and surveillance. I conclude the article by developing the notion of ‘disconnective intimacy’ to conceptualise contemporary Chinese transnational families. This article contributes to the literature on the transnational family by providing an insight into the micro-politics of mediated co-presence through the trope of ‘disconnective practice’.


2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Κατερίνα Βασιλικού

<p>In this paper, there is an effort to make a<br />classifi cation of the family relations of the<br />immigrant women who come to Greece<br />from Eastern Europe and the Balkans to<br />work as domestic workers. First, we have a<br />presentation of the state of research about<br />‘transnational’ families and of the relevant<br />terminology. Then, from a biographical<br />research on these women and on the basis of<br />their testimonies we see that the separation<br />and the reunion are the two limits of<br />existence of the transnational family. Women<br />fi nd ways of keeping the family united and at<br />the same time they defi ne largely in this way<br />their identity. Finally, a categorization of the<br />family ties of immigrant women shows that<br />the relation parents-children is the more<br />decisive for the existence of the transnational<br />family.</p>


2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 393-414
Author(s):  
Laura Merla ◽  
Majella Kilkey ◽  
Loretta Baldassar

In this article, we introduce the key themes of our Special Issue on "Transnational care: families confronting borders". Central to this collection is the question of how family relations and solidarities are impacted by the current scenario of closed borders and increasingly restrictive migration regimes. This question is examined more specifically through the lens of care dynamics within transnational families and their (re-)configurations across diverse contexts marked by "immobilizing regimes of migration". We begin by presenting a brief overview of key concepts in the transnational families and caregiving literature that provides a foundation for the diverse cases explored in the articles, including refugees and asylum seekers in Germany and Finland, Polish facing Brexit in the UK, Latin American migrants transiting through Mexico, and restrictionist drifts in migration policies in Australia, Belgium and the UK. Drawing on this rich work, we identify two policy tools; namely temporality and exclusion, which appear to be particularly salient features of immobilizing regimes of migration that significantly influence care-related mobilities. We conclude with a discussion of how immobilizing regimes are putting transnational family solidarities in crisis, including in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, gripping the globe at the time of writing.


2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 137-156
Author(s):  
Nicola Yeates ◽  
Freda Owusu-Sekyere

AbstractTransnational families occupy centre-stage in literatures on transformations in the social organisation and relations of care and welfare because they express how social bonds are sustained despite geographical separation. This paper examines some key themes arising from a research study into remittance-sending practices of UK-based Ghanaians and Nigerians in the light of research literatures on transnational family care and development finance. The data comprises qualitative interviews with 20 UK-based Ghanaian and Nigerian people who regularly send remittances to their families ‘back home’. This paper discusses a social issue that arises from the transnationalisation of family structures and relations, when migrant family members are positioned within family networks as ‘absent providers’, and familial relations eventually become financialised. The findings show the complexities of transnational living, the hardships endured by remittance-senders and the particular strains of remittance-mediated family relationships. The financialisation of family relations affects the social subjectivity and positioning of remittance-senders within the family. Strain and privation are integral to participants’ experiences of transnational family life, while themes of deception, betrayal, and expatriation also feature. The suppression of emotion is a feature of the significant labour inputs participants make in sustaining relationships within transnational families. The paper considers UK social policy implications of the findings.


Author(s):  
Valerie Francisco-Menchavez

Chapter two examines care work and intimacy between transnational family members shaped by the advancement in communication technologies, specifically, Skype and Facebook. New care providers, patterns of care work and forms of care emerge through these particular technological platforms. Although, technology brings new possibilities of supporting relationships over long distances, it also sometimes hinders relationships through its “all seeing eye” character. Transnational family members are impressive in their ability to stay connected through technology and yet, these strategies are only possible in fact because they are necessary in a world where families are forced to be separated to sustain their livelihoods. The chapter examines multidirectional care through technology’s role in transforming the relationships in transnational families and, importantly, assessing that possibilities and challenges of this development of care under the neoliberal condition they are transformed.


2021 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Irena Juozeliūnienė ◽  
Gintė Martinkėnė ◽  
Irma Budginaitė-Mačkinė ◽  
Laimutė Žilinskienė

In this article, we analyse how global mobility restrictions related to COVID-19 may affect Lithuanian transnational families and transnational practices of parenting. The article draws on the data from the quota-based survey, implemented while carrying out the research project ‘Global Migration and Lithuanian Family: Family Practices, Circulation of Care and Return Strategies’ (No. S-MIP-17-117), funded by the Lithuanian Research Council, to analyse the transnational care practices that require the mobility of family members. The challenges created by the pandemic are discussed while analysing the data from the case studies of transnational families. The article reveals that the free mobility of family members in the global world is an important part of the transnational care practices, ensuring continuity of family relations and childcare, regardless of the residence of the family members. The anti-mobility regimes create challenges to family unity, intergenerational relations and give ground to the emergence of new stigmas.


2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 153-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
Esther Chiner ◽  
Marcos Gómez-Puerta ◽  
M. Cristina Cardona-Moltó

The aim of this study was to explore caregivers’ views about the risks of the Internet for people with intellectual disabilities and their preparation and ability to use prevention strategies to address them. The participants (20 family members and 24 staff members) belonged to a non-profit association working with people with developmental and intellectual disabilities and were asked to respond to a questionnaire about Internet safety and risks. Findings show some concerns from caregivers with regard to the use of the Internet by people with intellectual disabilities and suggest that this group is more vulnerable to online risks. Participants use different kinds of strategies to prevent the risks but they have not received any formal training. They think that this training should come from the Administration and other organisations. Some differences were found between family and staff members’ responses. Training programmes for all the groups involved in this process (i.e. people with intellectual disabilities, staff and family members) should be designed, implemented and assessed to promote the inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities in the digital arena.


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