“In the back of my mind, time always ticks one hour forward”: The transnational temporalities of Moldovan domestic workers in Italy

Abstract

This article analyses the temporalities of transnational living through a threefold frame: as an outlook, as a resource and as a qualitative experience. Drawing on data from interviews with Moldovan women who are domestic workers in Italy, I point to the time work employed by these labour migrants to navigate a multitude of timescapes derived from a (permanently) temporary status, precarious resources and the emotional ambivalence that arises from being away from their families. I show how migrants' envisioned temporariness of transnational living materialises into a time‐bound outlook, which, in turn, compels them to manage time as a scarce resource, that has to be managed, planned and worked with. Lastly, I indicate that maintaining a temporary outlook correlates with a halting strategy and may have significant effects on personal and family well‐being.

Rethinking migration networks on the move: Associative, professional and global encounters between Romanians in Spain

“…Scholars have established the relations between time, networks and migration, emphasizing different temporal aspects of the migrant experience and their consequences (Cwerner, 2001, p. 7). Looking at Moldovan women who are domestic workers in Italy, Cojocaru (2021) analyses the temporality of transnational living, highlighting the ‘diasporic life’ of migrant networks. Other authors start from the concept of community/communities as a temporal root in the creation of migrant networks.…”

Conflicting temporalities and the unsustainability of the Italian model of migrant personal care assistant

“…The literature concerning the European context has focused more on asylum seekers, as their migration trajectories are particularly marked by a loss of control over time, such as when they await a response to an asylum application; however, there are also studies on labour migrants (Clayton & Vickers, 2019;Griffiths, 2014). Cojocaru (2020a), in her doctoral thesis, analyses temporal experience of Moldovan women in Italy. Thanks to her research, it is possible to identify some similarities and differences with Griffiths' (2014) research results on asylum seekers.…”

“…The underlying theme of these studies is how migration and labour regimes shape the temporality of migrants, keeping them in abeyance, imposing specific schedules on family time and making the future uncertain. Some studies focused on the timing of care in the context of transnational families characterized by prolonged temporary female migrations, which highlights how there are disruptions in the rhythms of care (Cojocaru, 2020b; Yeaoh et al, 2020). Other studies focused on how the dominant temporalities of migration and work shape the lives of migrants, alternating moments of acceleration with periods of deceleration and making the balance between the temporalities of precarious paid jobs and unpaid care work particularly difficult (Clayton & Vickers, 2019).…”

“…Cojocaru (2020a), in her doctoral thesis, analyses temporal experience of Moldovan women in Italy. Thanks to her research, it is possible to identify some similarities and differences with Griffiths’ (2014) research results on asylum seekers.…”

Digital transformation social spaces of Romanians and Moldovans in Berlin

“…For example, many migrants originating from the Republic of Moldova acquired Romanian citizenship to access the EU-wide labour market, thus statistically belonging to the generic 'Romanian diaspora'. In the context of transnationalism, integrating multiple temporalities into the migration experience has become part of the daily lives of Moldovans, especially among domestic workers in Italy (Cojocaru 2021).…”