Changing places: children of return migrants in Albania and their quest to belong

Cena, Elida; Heim, Derek; Trandafoiu, Ruxandra

doi:10.1080/1369183x.2017.1351336

Cited by 14 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…Moreover, the complex trajectories of transnational families and their articulation within transnational narratives and practices of identity, are better grasped if we were to think of place of origin and place of settlement as intricately interlaced rather than disconnected social spaces. Indeed, as Cena and others’ () research demonstrates places of origin and settlement can also be reversed as in the case of children of return migrants in Albania. Thus, a more viable concept is that of ‘transnational social fields’, with their embedded and intersecting practices, identities and power relations (Zeitlyn, ).…”

Section: Method: Researching the Relationship Between Childhood And Pmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…Ardian, a 7‐year old boy whose experiences are analysed in this paper, belongs to what Gardner () calls ‘transnational communities’ or ‘transnational families’. She coins these terms to describe children and their families who participate in social and economic networks which traverse national borders, linking places through a range of practices such as, for example, living in settled communities with an established homeland elsewhere or being part of families and communities in which migration abroad is an established way of life (see also Cena and others, ). Ardian's case fits this profile.…”

Section: Method: Researching the Relationship Between Childhood And Pmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While there has been some interest in the Albanian youth's diasporic identities (Athanasopoulou, ; Cena and others, ; Katartzi, ; Michail and Christou, ) in the literature, there is a dearth of research on children's (trans)national identities in Greece, a curious omission given the scale of Albanian migration to Greece over the last 30 years. Research among Albanian children and families could potentially enhance theoretical conceptualisations of national and transnational identity formation processes in Greece and beyond, because of what is known about their practices of assimilation.…”

Section: Locating the (Trans)national Childmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Often Albanian migrants aspire to settle and fit into Greek society as a family; they play down differences and resort to assimilatory practices that silence their otherness, such as name changing and christening children (Triandafyllidou and Kokkali, ). Such assimilatory practices can also make readjustment to life back in Albania, for those whose parents decide to return, challenging; a challenge that is spatially and temporally mediated (Cena and others, ).…”

Section: Locating the (Trans)national Childmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Grounding Childhood (Trans)National Identities in the Everyday

et al. 2018

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This paper engages with the lived and experiential aspects of (trans)national identities in childhood, through the exploration of an ethnographic biography of a Greek‐Albanian boy in Athens. Through a grounded ethnographic approach, we examine the ways in which he experiences and negotiates his (trans)national identity. Our analysis demonstrates the everyday subtle and sophisticated understanding of the complexities and contradictions of national identities, and the child's own positioning within that. In conclusion, we suggest that interdisciplinary approaches should be assumed in the study of (trans)national identities in childhood, and ones that are grounded in children's own meaning making of their experiences of such identities.

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Section: Method: Researching the Relationship Between Childhood And Pmentioning

confidence: 95%

Section: Method: Researching the Relationship Between Childhood And Pmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Locating the (Trans)national Childmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Locating the (Trans)national Childmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Grounding Childhood (Trans)National Identities in the Everyday

et al. 2018

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“…Guo and Dalli (2016) argued that the concept of belonging is now central in early childhood education research, especially in Australia and New Zealand, where a focus on enhancing children's sense of belonging has been embedded in the national curriculum frameworks. In migration studies, belonging has also emerged as a powerful concept to explore how children construct a sense of home and homeland (Cena et al 2018). Another stream of research on children's belonging has also explored how inclusive education can facilitate children's participation and prevent exclusion (Slee, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Place, Peers, and Play: Children’s Belonging in a Preprimary School Setting

Kyrönlampi

Uitto

Puroila

2021

IJEC

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This article focuses on children’s perspectives of belonging to a place, in this case a Finnish preprimary school setting. This study explores “place-belonging” in photographs originally taken by the children in their preprimary school activities. “Photo-telling” was applied as a methodology to link narrative and visual approaches. The research data consist of 13 children’s photographs and group discussions, in which the children viewed the photographs with the researcher. The study shows that children’s belonging in the preprimary school was intertwined with various elements of the setting, including the people, activities, materiality, and institutional and cultural practices. The findings show how the children can make places of their own and contribute to the setting, how they build their own places, and how these places and associated structures affect the children’s actions. Play allows the children to gain familiarity and attachment to places, materials, and peers, hence building a sense of belonging to the preprimary school as a setting. Children’s photographs and storytelling activities provide educators with a significant means to support and understand children’s perspectives on place and belonging.

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Interaction of ancestry and agency: Challenges, constraints and options for second‐generation Albanian youth relocating from Greece

Michail,

King

2023

Population Space and Place

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The Greek economic crisis resulted in tens of thousands of Albanian migrants returning to their home country. Amongst the returnees were many second‐generation children of the immigrants, who either returned with their families or relocated as individuals, leaving family members in Greece. Since the second generation were brought up in Greece they are not true returnees; we call their movement ‘relocation’ rather than return. Based on in‐depth interviews with 158 second‐generation ‘relocatees’ aged 18–35, we ask: How are the second generation's future aspirations in the ancestral homeland shaped by family bonds, sociocultural factors and employment and business options there? Among the themes that emerge from our analysis are issues of agency, youth mobility, economic survival, hybrid and dual identities, and feelings of belonging. In their (re)integration, relocatees face both economic and emotional challenges. Our key finding is that, despite the need to escape unemployment and loss of livelihood in Greece, the young‐adult second generation struggles to settle in Albania, above all due to what they see as the challenging sociocultural and infrastructural environment. Women, especially, bemoan the loss of freedom that they enjoyed in Greece. Most relocatees want to go back to Greece when the economic situation there improves.

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Changing places: children of return migrants in Albania and their quest to belong

Cited by 14 publications

References 40 publications

Grounding Childhood (Trans)National Identities in the Everyday

Grounding Childhood (Trans)National Identities in the Everyday

Place, Peers, and Play: Children’s Belonging in a Preprimary School Setting

Interaction of ancestry and agency: Challenges, constraints and options for second‐generation Albanian youth relocating from Greece

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