This panel explores historical transnational family engagements of both migrants and non-migrants, tracing patterns of mobility up until the end of the 20th century. Movement across borders of kingdoms, empires, and modern states has long been a defining feature of human life, taking diverse forms, such as labor migration, migration for education, protection or marriage, pilgrimage, diplomacy, enslavement or war. While in the contemporary era mobility is characterised by unprecedented access to travel, and the acceleration of both mobility and communication, in earlier periods, both voluntary and coerced mobilities, as well as modes of communication, were significantly slower, more costly, and often more constrained. Depending on the cause for migration, the immigration and emigration regimes in place, as well as individuals’ socio-economic background, religion, gender and race, such migration projects were more privileged or precarious, with an impact also on the transnational family life unfolding.
Highlighting earlier forms of transnational family lives, this panel aims to bring together academic research that studies transnational family lives through historical and other sources, including, but not limited to, letters, diaries, official documents, photographs, films, interviews and newspaper articles from that time, or through literary, cinematic or other works.
Taken together, by examining a broad spectrum of border crossers and the transnational family life unfolding from it, this panel sheds light on how social, political, and economic dimensions impact on how transnational family life is organised and experienced. In doing so, it seeks to illuminate the historical textures of migrant transnationalism and family lives in response to the mobility regimes at a specific time.
We welcome empirical, methodological and theoretical contributions from various disciplinary angles covering diverse geographical contexts. Potential themes include:
- transnational family lives in and between particular local and regional settings,
- transnational family dynamics of specific social groups,
- the impact of social, political and economic dimensions on transnational family lives,
- the study of various aspects of transnational family life, including care practices, identity building or language transmission, or the welfare of the ones that stayed
- a critical discussion on specific historical sources as a way to study transnational family lives before the era of speedy communication and cheap(er) means of travel.
Please submit your 250-word abstract, including contact details, by 23 September to Brigitte Suter (Malmö University),
Please, also indicate whether you plan to attend the conference onsite or online.
Standing committee: MITRA
Panel convenors: Brigitte Suter (Malmö University) and Karlijn Hagsman (Maastricht University)