The role of networks in transnational care-giving: the case of Latin Americans in Belgium and Australia

Merla, Laura [UCL]

This paper focuses on the ‘circulation of care’ (Baldassar and Merla, 2013), defined as ‘the reciprocal, asymmetrical and multidirectional 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 and receiving societies’. Based on case studies of Latin American transnational family networks, this paper investigates the specific role that intra-familial dynamics play in the exchange of care between adult migrants and their parents. This involves tracing the movement of personal, practical, emotional, financial support and accommodation (Finch 1989) and the unevenness of their flows, and in so doing, identifying all of the people who are involved in the social relationships that manage caring relationships. The resulting ‘map’ of caregiving actors and activity provides a detailed account of one of the central ways family relationships are constituted and maintained in transnational settings. This paper also contributes to our understanding of inequalities in the capacity to circulate care that arise from the institutional contexts of sending (in this case, El Salvador and the Dominican Republic) and receiving (Australia and Belgium) countries. Drawing on Kilkey and Merla’s situated care-giving capabilities framework (Kilkey and Merla, forthcoming, 2013), the paper indeed highlights the impact of peoples’ situation in migration, gendered care, welfare and working-time regimes of sending and receiving societies on the specific roles they play within transnational family networks of solidarity. Finally, the paper discusses relations between migration and the re-negotiation of family commitments and power dynamics within transnational families.