FASoS Colloquium ‘Transnational families and the circulation of care: a framework for the analysis of transnational care practices’

Transnational families and the circulation of care: a framework for the analysis of transnational care practices by Dr. Laura Merla of the Research Centre on Families and Sexualities, Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium

When: 11 September 2013, 15.30 – 17.30. Where: Spiegelzaal Soiron Building, Grote Gracht 80-82

Abstract
Transnational families have been defined as “families that live some or most of the time separated from each other, yet hold together and create something that can be seen as a feeling of collective welfare and unity, namely ‘familyhood’, even across national borders” (Bryceson & Vuorela, 2002, p. 18). Care practices in particular have been recognized as one of the main ways in which transnational kin ‘do’ family (see for instance Goulbourne et al, 2009). In this presentation I will introduce the ‘care circulation’ framework (Baldassar and Merla 2013), which offers a new perspective on the analysis of the mobilities of care within transnational family networks. The circulation of care is defined as ‘the reciprocal, multidirectional and asymmetrical exchange of care that fluctuates over the life course within transnational family networks subject to the political, economic, cultural and social contexts of both sending a nd receiving societies’ (Baldassar and Merla, 2013: 22). ‘Care’ is understood as multidimensional, including practical, emotional, personal, financial support as well as accommodation. Based on ethnographic case studies, I will show how care circulates within transnational family networks, highlighting the role played by the usually invisible actors of care exchanges, such as men, children and the elderly. I will also higlight the importance of ‘situating’ transnational care practices within the institutional contexts of both receiving and sending countries, using Kilkey and Merla (2013)’s situated caregiving capabilities framework.
Laura Merla is Sociologist and Deputy Director of the Interdisciplinary Research Centre on Families and Sexualities (CIRFASE) at the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium. She studied political sciences at the Université libre de Bruxelles (Belgium) and completed a PhD in sociology at the Université catholique de Louvain (Belgium, 2006). Over the last five years, she has conducted research on Latin American transnational families in Europe and Australia funded by the European Commission, the Belgian National Funds for Research and the Belgian Science Policy. Her current research project examines the interplay between intrafamilial dynamics and the exchange of care between adult Latin American migrants and their parents. Laura’s recent publications on transnational families include the edited book (with Loretta Baldassar) on Transnational families, migration and the circulation of care: understanding mobility and absence in family life published by Routle dge, two papers published in the journals Autrepart Vol. 57‒58 and International Migration (published online), three forthcoming papers in Global Networks and Cahiers Genre et Développement, and a forthcoming book, Transnational Family Solidarity in Local Contexts, published by Routledge.

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