Translocal familyhood and Lifelines across Borders

Abstract

<p>What are translocal families and what are their lifelines like? The theoretical section of the chapter explains translocality, translocal familyhood and lifelines, the three key concepts of the book. Based mainly on research carried out for the Inequalities of Mobility: Relatedness and Belonging of Transnational Families in the Nordic Migration Space project, the authors ponder how emotion, multiple belonging and intersectional inequalities play out in various ways in the lives of translocal families. This approach grasps the complexity of translocal family lives in the East and North European context, where the authors have conducted multilingual and interdisciplinary case studies across national borders. <p>Methodologically the chapter discusses how intersectional analysis reveals the coming together of family lifelines and inequalities and looks at how gender, generation, class and translocality create, influence and reinforce the strengths and vulnerabilities of familyhood. This section discusses the wide variety of qualitative methods the authors have used to analyse translocal familyhood: in-depth thematic and open interviewing, extended research conversations, photography, analysis of media materials, participant observation and long-term intensive research engagement with families. Finally, the chapter introduces the different sections of the book and each chapter.