Peer-Led Care Practices and ‘Community’ Formation in British Retirement Migration

Abstract

This article uses ethnography of British retirement migration in Spain to explore how care practices among migrant peers operationalize 'community' in place. Social, economic and political transformations, including shrinking welfare state provision, family at a distance and marketized care, have generated care deficits. I show how peer-led care practices help mediate these deficits, assisting individuals in 'getting by' and providing safeguards against exploitation, while constituting some sense of 'community' as well as personal meaning in liquid contexts. However, I show how temporal, spatial and social limitations render this community fragile and exclusive, while practices aimed at mediating between family, state and market, set boundaries of responsibility. Nevertheless, I argue for critical reflection on the potential of these emerging peer-led welfare architectures especially in the contexts of heightened mobility, austerity, transnationalism and an ageing population.

(Un)settling home during the Brexit process

“…Such a change should be understood within the recent economic context of the global financial crisis (2008) and its consequences (Oliver, ; O'Reilly, ). The everyday implications of the financial crisis included unfavourable exchange rates, lower property values, and negative equity in property that resulted in British migrants in Spain finding their migration project unsustainable (Huete, Mantecón, & Estévez, ; O'Reilly, ).…”

“…The everyday implications of the financial crisis included unfavourable exchange rates, lower property values, and negative equity in property that resulted in British migrants in Spain finding their migration project unsustainable (Huete, Mantecón, & Estévez, ; O'Reilly, ). Literature on return migration has cited the financial crisis as a series of events that encouraged, or required, British migrants to return to the United Kingdom (see Giner‐Monfort et al, ; Huete et al, ; Oliver, ). Beyond this explanation, return migration scholarship provides nuanced understandings about return motivations among older migrants including social changes, health decline, and the ageing process (Giner‐Monfort, Hall, & Betty, ; Hall & Hardill, ).…”

“…This article presents two narratives from a Seniors Club, a voluntary care and social organisation in the Costa del Sol. Experiences of ageing, ill health, and potentially shifting sense of independence can lead to individuals seeking assistance offered by such organisations (Miller et al, ; Oliver, ). William and Lily are regular members of one Seniors Club branch.…”

“…These experiences can unsettle members' concepts of home and belonging as they negotiate group and individual challenges within everyday life. The focus on two narratives from this branch reflects the importance of these groups for support, care, and a sense of community for older migrants (Haas, ; Huber & O'Reilly, ; Oliver, ). The Arroyo branch membership is diverse with members having varying access to financial resources, social capital and potential for mobility, and potentially complex care needs.…”

Negotiating sameness and difference in geographies of older age

“…We look after one another, do interesting things together.” Here, time, lifestyle, interest and entertainment were the rationales for congregation, leading to intense relationships with like‐minded others. This was particularly so for migrants who had no children or strong family relationships on which to rely, where friendships extended often also to caring roles (see Oliver, ).…”