Transnational migrant families: navigating marriage, generation and gender in multiple spheres

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mulki Al-Sharmani ◽  
Marja Tiilikainen ◽  
Sanna Mustasaari
Keyword(s):  
Family Life ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Marriage Migration ◽  
Transnational Family ◽  
Migrant Families ◽  
Social Fields ◽  
Family Practices ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Migrant Groups ◽  
Shed Light

This special issue seeks to enrich readers’ understandings of the transnational family practices and relations of selected migrant groups of a predominantly Muslim background in a number of Western contexts. It presents theoretically and empirically grounded studies that investigate how these family practices and ties are transnationally shaped, navigated and experienced by different family members. It focuses on two aspects of family life: marriage and the second generation’s aspirations and transnational experiences. Under the first theme, this special issue examines how marriage, migration and kinship interplay in transnationally shaped social fields where multiple legal and normative systems intersect in the lives of migrants. With regards to the second theme, the issue investigates how the children of migrants navigate and experience transnational family norms, ties and practices. Throughout the issue, individual articles shed light on the gendered dimensions of the different family practices and experiences.

scholarly journals Shifting Geographical Configurations in Migrant Families: Narratives of Children Reunited with their Mothers in Italy

2013 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Paola Bonizzoni ◽  
Luisa Leonini
Keyword(s):  
International Migration ◽  
Family Life ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Family Migration ◽  
Migration Process ◽  
Family Ties ◽  
Transnational Family ◽  
Migrant Families ◽  
The Family ◽  
Family Practices

The article explores the experiences of separation and reunification by children of migrant mothers in Italy by analysing 32 qualitative interviews conducted with adolescents who had rejoined their mothers at different points in their lives. We show that international migration causes children to face multiple shifts in the configuration of their family ties due to the geographical dislocations and re-locations to which these ties are subject. The way in which children interpret and adjust to these changes depends on factors such as the timing of the family migration process and the frequency of transnational family practices, which are affected by more or less abrupt discontinuities in family life after their mothers’ and their own departure.

scholarly journals Parenting and Migration in Academic Publications: What is seen to be ‘Troubling’?

2020 ◽  
pp. 78-97
Author(s):  
Irena Juozeliūnienė ◽  
Indrė Bielevičiūtė ◽  
Irma Budginaitė-Mačkinė
Keyword(s):  
Host Country ◽  
Family Life ◽  
Academic Discourse ◽  
Research Project ◽  
Global Migration ◽  
Transnational Family ◽  
Family Practices ◽  
Value Judgements ◽  
Academic Publications ◽  
And Migration

In this chapter the authors examine how parenting in migration context is portrayed in the academic discourse in Lithuania. The authors reveal the depictions of migration-induced child caring practices, based on the results of analysis of academic publications (2004–2017) carried out from January to March 2018 as part of the sub-study of the research project ‘Global Migration and Lithuanian Family: Family Practices, Circulation of Care, and the Return Strategies’. The chapter focus on the portrayal of parenting within the host country, after return from emigration and in transnational family settings. The analysis reveals how value judgements about family life rooted in the low mobility discourse are reproduced in academic publications on family and migration and lead the researchers to portray parenting in migration as ‘troubling’.

Issues of Women Carers in Australian-Greek Families

1998 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 203
Author(s):  
Carol A. Morse ◽  
Voula Messimeri-Kianidis
Keyword(s):  
Family Networks ◽  
Care Giving ◽  
Migrant Families ◽  
Formal Services ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Family Based ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Caregiving Roles ◽  
Migrant Groups ◽  
Extensive Family

Several myths prevail regarding family-based caregiving in migrant groups from non-English-speaking backgrounds (NESB): i) a low need for formal services because of extensive family networks (i.e. informal assistance); ii) NESB groups prefer to 'look after their own' to a greater extent than do Anglo-Australian communities; and iii) caregiving is a 'natural' role for women in migrant families. In 1995 a survey was undertaken of 150 care-giving families in the Australian Greek community in Melbourne, identified from the register of the Australian Greek Welfare Society (AGWS), matched by age and gender with 150 Australian Greeks with no caregiving roles. Health status and social experiences were examined of providing family-based caregiving for a co-resident member with developmental delay, physical and/or mental disorder or frail age.

Untold Transnational Family Life on the Sonora–Arizona Border

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcela Sotomayor-Peterson ◽  
Ana A. Lucero-Liu
Keyword(s):  
Family Life ◽  
Descriptive Analysis ◽  
Physical Contact ◽  
Transnational Families ◽  
Transnational Family ◽  
Migrant Families ◽  
The Us ◽  
Current Sample

Research on transnational families mostly assumes long physical distances and long periods of separation. However, transnational families are diverse and reconfigure in a multitude of ways. The US–Mexican border in Arizona is historically a fluid one, where contact between families is a potential. This possibility of physical contact on a semi-regular basis makes the current sample unique from other transnational families. Using exploratory and descriptive analysis, this chapter provides a portrait of family life for migrant families along the Arizona–Sonora border with the goal of illustrating the diversity of family life for transnational families. Study findings suggest multiple family configurations, including transborder families (with members living within 60 miles of the border on either side) who have frequent physical contact and transnational families with long physical separations and little physical contact. Various aspects of family life (e.g., parenting) between transborder and transnational families are also compared.

scholarly journals Transnational families in the light of the practice-based approach

2020 ◽  
pp. 113-129
Author(s):  
Małgorzata Szyszka
Keyword(s):  
International Migration ◽  
Family Life ◽  
Transnational Families ◽  
International Studies ◽  
Everyday Practices ◽  
Use Of Technology ◽  
Transnational Family ◽  
Family Practices ◽  
Main Factors ◽  
Transnational Parenting

Today, international migration is one of the main factors that determine functioning of families. Transnational families and transnational parenting are becoming increasingly more common and have been gaining considerable interest of researchers and social practitioners. One perspective that may be useful for examining transnational families is the practice-based approach. The concepts put forward by Morgan and Finch (‘doing’ and ‘displaying’ family) help to analyse families not as structures, but as everyday practices which constitute them (Morgan) and which must be associated with a system of meanings to be displayed (Finch). In the article, the analysis of transnational family practices will focus on the ‘tools’ for displaying (Finch) that are characteristic of transnational family life, and it will be based on the results of Polish and international studies. The article will discuss the tools proposed by Finch, such as physical objects or the use of narratives, as well as the use of technology in communication and taking care of children, as these practices are specific to transnational families. Those ‘tools’ for displaying show that transnational families are flexible, they are constantly happening, and by being embedded in broader systems of meanings, they become acceptable.

scholarly journals Making Lithuanian Families Across Borders

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-186
Author(s):  
Irena Juozeliūnienė ◽  
Julie Seymour
Keyword(s):  
Family Relationships ◽  
Family Life ◽  
Personal Lives ◽  
Migrant Families ◽  
Family Practices ◽  
Intergenerational Issues

This edited collection opens the door to understanding the representations and experiences of Lithuanian migrant families. The authors aim to highlight the most recent theoretical frames through which to understand the personal lives, family practices of migrants, and the ways family relationships could be perceived as ‘troubled’. The authors test and extend these ideas about family life with a focus on gender and intergenerational issues in the context of Lithuanian families across borders.

Marriage and transnational family life among Somali migrants in Finland

2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 38-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mulki M Al-Sharmani ◽  
Abdirashid A Ismail
Keyword(s):  
Family Life ◽  
Focus Group Discussions ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Family Obligations ◽  
Family Ties ◽  
Transnational Family ◽  
Companionate Marriage ◽  
Spouse Selection ◽  
Larger Sample ◽  
Married Male

In this article, we investigate how marriage practices of Somali migrants in Finland are influenced by their transnational kinship. We examine how transnational family ties play a role in migrants’ spouse selection, marriage arrangements, and management of spousal resources. We also identify the factors that enable migrants to successfully navigate marital challenges caused by their transnational kin-based ties. These factors are: companionate marriage relationship based on emotional closeness and flexible spousal roles, compatibility in spousal resources, and the cooperation of couples in navigating transnational family obligations. We show how gender and generation are at play (in complex ways) in the interplay between transnational kinship and marriage. We draw on interview data from 16 married male and female interviewees, taken from a larger sample of 37 informants of different marital statuses. Our analysis is also based on data from focus group discussions

Islam, Gender, and Democracy in Comparative Perspective

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Comparative Literature ◽  
Gender Equality ◽  
Gender Inequality ◽  
Women's Rights ◽  
Women’S Rights ◽  
Muslim Countries ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Shed Light

This volume reframes the debate around Islam and women’s rights within a broader comparative literature. It examines the complex and contingent historical relationships between religion, secularism, democracy, law, and gender equality. Part I addresses the nexus of religion, law, gender, and democracy through different disciplinary perspectives (sociology, anthropology, political science, law). Part II localizes the implementation of this nexus between law, gender, and democracy, and provides contextualized responses to questions raised in Part I. The contributors explore the situation of Muslim women’s rights vis-à-vis human rights to shed light on gender politics in the modernization of the nation and to ponder over the role of Islam in gender inequality across different Muslim countries.

scholarly journals Introduction to the special issue on digital government and gender

2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-113
Author(s):  
Mila Gasco-Hernandez ◽  
Giorgia Nesti ◽  
Maria Cucciniello ◽  
Yenisel Gulatee
Keyword(s):  
Special Issue ◽  
Digital Government ◽  
And Gender

scholarly journals What Do Migrants Know About Their Childcare Rights? A First Exploration in West Germany

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Verena Seibel
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Total Sample ◽  
Ethnic Relations ◽  
West Germany ◽  
Policy Recommendations ◽  
Regression Analyses ◽  
Migrant Families ◽  
Human And Social Capital ◽  
Migrant Groups ◽  
The Welfare State

AbstractAlthough an increasing number of studies emphasise migrants’ lack of knowledge about their childcare rights as a crucial barrier to their childcare usage, almost none examines the conditions under which migrant families acquire this knowledge. This study contributes to the literature by exploring potential individual factors determining migrant families’ knowledge about their childcare rights in Germany. I use unique data collected through the project Migrants’ Welfare State Attitudes (MIFARE), in which nine different migrant groups in Germany were surveyed about their relation to the welfare state, including childcare. Analysing a total sample of 623 migrants living with children in their household and by using logistic regression analyses, I find that human and social capital play significant roles in explaining migrants’ knowledge about their childcare rights. Migrants who speak the host language sufficiently are more likely to know about their childcare rights; however, it does not matter whether migrants are lower or higher educated. Moreover, I observe that migrants benefit from their co-ethnic relations only if childcare usage is high among their ethnic group. Based on these results, policy recommendations are discussed in order to increase migrants’ knowledge about their childcare rights in Germany.

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