Responsibility, Mobility, and Power: Translocal Carework Negotiations of Nicaraguan Families

Abstract

Recently, carework has emerged as a key area for exploring the gendered connections between migrants and their families “home,” providing insight into family‐level consequences of migration. However, the way carework shapes migration itself has not received due attention. Based on field research among Nicaraguan migrant families, this article explores the links between translocal carework and family migration decision‐making by connecting the concepts of transnational caregiving and power‐geometry of mobility to interpret fathers’ and female relatives’ carework involvement. In conclusion, the article highlights how translocal carework shapes family members’ access to mobility through ongoing negotiations of a wide range of responsibilities, indicating a possible direction for future explorations of migration.

Navigating transnational childcare relationships: migrant parents and their children's caregivers in the origin country

“…However, their focus is either on one side of the family or the research has been conduct in two sites in a sequential manner, which misses many of the small day-to-day interactions that together constitute how people work at creating and maintaining networks of care (Mazzucato 2009). Hence, to date we know little about the considerations that go into selecting a caregiver and accepting the care role (but see Dreby 2010;Winters 2014), and the day-to-day strategies that migrant parents and caregivers develop to maintain trust and reciprocity that are at the basis of informal arrangements of care. In this article, by focusing on the everyday interactions and practices of migrant parents and caregivers through a simultaneous matched sample methodology, we explore the mechanisms used to generate and reinforce trust and see how tensions are negotiated to sustain extended family care networks across national borders.…”

“…Efua worried that her mother would refuse because of her advanced age and because her son suffered from a chronic illness that required extra care. Other parents were forced to make a 'care compromise' (Winters 2014), meaning that in the light of migration opportunities and no alternative caregivers, parents place their children with a person they do not trust or whom they consider a poor caregiver, usually with the expectation that reunification in the Netherlands can soon be accomplished.…”

‘“For a better life …“ A study on migration and health in Nicaragua’

“…The study also illustrates the dilemma associated with transnational motherhood. Even though shared mothering is commonly practised in Nicaragua, whereby female relatives other than the mother partake in the upbringing of children [104], difficulties can still arise due to the separation from children [105]. Migrating mothers often continue to be responsible for the emotional care of their children, and frequently express emotional distress and guilt due to their absence, even though communication is maintained [106–108].…”

Embedding Remittances: A Methodological Note on Financial Diaries in Nicaragua

“…Financial diaries expose the translocal interdependency of household members and practices and provide clues for an interrogation of this interdependency beyond income. In particular, diary information counters ideas of non-migrant dependency on remittances (Mazzucato 2008) and points to the multi-faceted two-way process of remittances (Long 2008) in tune with shared crossborder household responsibilities (Winters 2014). It inspires questions about, for example, the ways in which those 'at home' use remittances to take care of migrant children, deal with migrant debt, and oversee migrant investment.…”

“…Muy Muy is characterised by highly unequal and unstable livelihood opportunities as well as limited access to basic financial, health and education services. These dynamics contribute to flexible, informal, and cross-border household practices for survival and well-being, which were the focus of intermittent multi-sited ethnographic research on migration and local development between 2009 and 2014 (Steel et al 2011;Winters 2014). Financial diaries were created to facilitate tracking these dynamic household practices, including remittances.…”