Afterword: Gender Practices in Transnational Families

Abstract

In this concluding chapter, we offer a short synthesis highlighting the changes that have emerged in transnational family research in the course of the last two decades of study within the field. We notice that, through methodological and conceptual repositioning, a gendered perspective has become a priority. After identifying key elements introduced in the second decade of research on transnational families, in this chapter, we briefly discuss research on Romanian transnational families in order to illustrate how these changes in perspective are reflected within these studies, offering specific examples from my research. Then, we illustrate the way in which the chapters published in this volume are connected to the latest trends in the field. Beginnings of Transnational Family ResearchThe 1990s, under the influence of developments in feminist and gender studies, represented a reference point within research addressing the migration of persons due to the fact that women became a primary object of study as drivers of global movements within their own families, as opposed to simply being companions of men (Petraza-Bailey 1991;Morokvasik 1984Morokvasik , 2004Morokvasik , 2007Sassen 2000; HondagneuSotelo 2000;Pessar and Mahler 2003;Tolstokorova 2008). We emphasize the fact that, while women had been active agents within global population movements before the 1990s, research did not take them into account as subjects deserving special attention. Instead, the conclusions obtained in the course of research that

Displaying grandparenting within Romanian transnational families

“…In addressing transnational families, much of the literature adopts the approach of 'doing family', which in effect means viewing the family as an active process (Morgan 2011a(Morgan , 2011b. Researchers on transnational families are increasingly employing this lens (Baldassar et al 2016;Kilkey and Palenga-Möllenbeck 2016;Mazzucato and Schans 2011;Zontini and Reynolds 2018), not least because it illustrates well the dayby-day co-presence of these families and their successful functionality (Ducu 2018b). Morgan (2011a: 62) links 'the growth of transnational kinship ties' to 'an increasing need to look at relationships between households rather than to assume that family relationships are chiefly confined within them'.…”

“…In trying to elucidate ways of doing transnational families, researchers have concentrated on the fluidity of these transnational relationships (Ducu 2018b), while allowing the obstacles that transnational family members habitually encounter to remain in the background. Conceptualizing how transnational families are displayed provides a good opportunity to return the discussion to some of the more difficult moments in these people's lives.…”

Транснациональное Детство. Часть I: Постановка Вопроса И Обзор Основных Теоретико-Методологических Подходов

“…Другое направление изучения заботы о детях мигрантов охватывает исследования распределения родительских ролей, их гендерные и поколенческие различия [Ducu, 2018]. Один из выводов состоит в том, что постепенный рост доли женщин-мигрантов приводит, с одной стороны, к «кризису заботы» [Parreñas, 2005b], с другой -к росту значимости участия мужчин в домашнем хозяйстве и воспитании детей в отправляющих мигрантов обществах [Graham et al, 2012].…”

Changing gender role behaviors of south Asian men in different gender regimes: A comparative study of COVID‐19 lockdown in Pakistan and Germany

“…A few case studies reveal that migration can also change the gender role behaviors of migrants, especially what they bring into destination places from countries of origin (Brettell, 2017; Smits et al, 2003). However, migrants from resembling gender regimes tend to adopt new gender norms and values in destination places compared to migrants from relatively less gender‐egalitarian regimes (Ducu, 2018; Röder & Mühlau, 2014). Notably, in most Muslim majority countries, most people spend their lives according to Islamic jurisprudence.…”