Transnational Families

Transnational families are kin groups living in multiple locales across nation-state borders but remaining connected—economically, socially, and symbolically. One or more members of the kin group has migrated internationally: A common phenomenon is for a parent to migrate, leaving behind children in the care of a spouse or grandparent, participating in parenting through various media technologies, and sending remittances. Usually, the focus in the literature thus far is on the nuclear family relationships—between a migrant and nonmigrant spouse or a migrating parent and ‘left-behind’ minor children—but other relationships are also affected, as parents, siblings, friends, and neighbors of the migrant alter their roles to mitigate for the migrant’s absence. The eventual goal is usually to reunite the kin group, whether by the children and spouse ...