Relations Between the Generations in Immigrant Families

Foner, Nancy; Dreby, Joanna

doi:10.1146/annurev-soc-081309-150030

Cited by 149 publications

(143 citation statements)

References 82 publications

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“…Just as bilingual 1.5 and second generation children serve as translators for their adult relatives who are not proficient in English (Orellana, Dorner, and Pulido 2003), these same children likely assist in performing economic and other transactions that prove a physical challenge for the adults in their lives. Such obligations, like language brokering, may forge closer bonds between generations but may also heighten intergenerational conflict and affect the life chances of these youth (Foner and Dreby 2011).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Immigrant Bodily Incorporation: How the Physical Body Structures Identity, Mobility, and Transnationalism

Brown

2016

Soc Probl

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This article integrates insights from the sociology of the body and sociology of immigration to examine the role of the body in the immigrant incorporation process. Drawing on three years of participant observation in a West African immigrant community, I show how immigrants from a predominantly agrarian society must adapt and retrain their bodies, often under great pressure, to meet the demands of American social institutions. Immigrants' ability to move their bodies in socially prescribed ways affects three crucial aspects of the incorporation process: identity formation, economic mobility, and transnational practices. Immigrants who struggle to execute the host society's normative bodily movements (1) interpret their bodily challenges as evidence of their outsider identity, (2) struggle to acquire the material resources necessary to achieve more traditionally studied forms of economic incorporation, and (3) face limitations in their ability to maintain transnational networks even as those networks play an increasingly important social role in the face of their blocked mobility. These findings indicate that bodily incorporation is a critical precursor to full incorporation into the host society.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Immigrant Bodily Incorporation: How the Physical Body Structures Identity, Mobility, and Transnationalism

Brown

2016

Soc Probl

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“…The past decade has witnessed a growth in interest on migrant families in both research and policy arenas. While generational transitions can prove problematic postmigration, as parents and children adapt to the new country at differing rates, research and policy has been overly concentrated on the divides this creates and has, consequently, problematized migrants families as traditional and resistant to integration (Waite and Cook 2011;Foner and Dreby 2011;Kofman 2004). The findings discussed in this chapter are rooted in more nuanced and complex understanding of migrant families.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Intergenerational Relationships in Migrant Families. Theoretical and Methodological Issues

Attias‐Donfut

Cook

2017

Life Course Research and Social Policies

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Migration has become a family based project, whether it involves the migration of the whole family, the formation of family post-migration or the financial support of family in the country of origin. The growing tendency of migrants to settle permanently rather than to practice circular migrations raises new challenges, not only for migration policy but also for integration patterns and for family policy and practices. We are convinced that a generational approach is one of the most inspiring ways to explore such questions.Migration experiences are indeed very different from one generation to another and they often exacerbate generational differences. Therefore it is necessary to develop studies to identify changes from one generation to the other within migrant families and to examine the impact of migration on the relationships between generations. This chapter is focused on theoretical and methodological issues through the presentation of studies investigating these generational changes, and combining several methods, using quantitative, qualitative and comparative data. We will first summarize some of the main results relating to the topic, on the basis of the literature and on studies that we have carried out at a national and cross-national level.The family is increasingly understood as pivotal to migration, forming the central consideration in the majority of decisions to relocate and proving fundamental to shaping transitions to settlement

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“…These 'fluid' conceptualisations of families focus on examining the qualitative details of family transitions; situating migrant families as heterogeneous and evolving (Creese, Dyck and McLaren 1999;Saraceno, 2008;Foner and Dreby 2011). Rather than engaging in linear paths from imagined landscapes of 'traditional' to 'modern', migrant families are conceptualised as sites of contestation where roles and values are under negotiation around a range of positions (Zontini 2007).…”

Section: Conceptualising Migrant Familiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Creese (2011) highlights four key areas of challenge; first, the loss of extended family support and socialisation, second, perceived dangers in the new culture around safety and supervision, third, changes in children's behaviour around independence and boundaries, and fourth, unfamiliar institutional structures and practices that require different types of parenting. Other writers have emphasised conflicts around sexuality, marriage and pregnancy, language and interpretation strains placed on some children; and pressures on children to succeed in education and achieve upward mobility (Zhou 2009;Foner and Dreby 2011;authors 2013). Gendered roles and expectations weave through all these areas of intergenerational change.…”

Section: Examining the Impact Of Migration On Intergenerational Relatmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although migration research has traditionally under-examined families (Bailey and Boyle 2004;Kofman 2002Kofman , 2004, research is increasingly recognising the family as pivotal to migration; since families are central to migration decisions and fundamental to shaping transitions to settlement (Nauck and Settles 2001). In more recent years studies have emerged that examine intergenerational relations in migrant families (Foner and Dreby 2011;Foner 2009). This article contributes to this growing literature by discussing British data from comparative projects on 'Citizenship, Belonging and Intergenerational Relations in African Migration in Britain, France and South Africa ' (2009-10) 1 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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‘I think I'm more free with them'—Conflict, Negotiation and Change in Intergenerational Relations in African Families Living in Britain

Cook

Waite

2015

Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies

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While the family is increasingly being recognised as pivotal to migration, there remain too few studies examining how migration impacts on intergenerational relationships. Although traditional intergenerational gaps are intensified by migration, arguably there has been an over-emphasis on the divisions between 'traditional' parents and 'modern' children at the expense of examining the ways in which both generations adapt. As Foner and Dreby stress (2011), the reality of post-migration intergenerational relations is inevitably more complex, requiring the examination of both conflict and cooperation. This article contributes to this growing literature by discussing British data from comparative projects on intergenerational relations in African families (in Britain, France and South Africa). It argues that particular understandings can be gained from examining the adaptation of parents and parenting strategies post migration and how the reconfiguration of family relations can contribute to settlement. By focusing on how both parent and child generations engage in conflict and negotiation to redefine their relationships and expectations, it offers insight into how families navigate and integrate the values of two cultures. In doing so it argues that the reconfiguration of gender roles as a result of migration offers families the space to renegotiate their relationships and make choices about what they transmit to the next generation.

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Relations Between the Generations in Immigrant Families

Cited by 149 publications

References 82 publications

Immigrant Bodily Incorporation: How the Physical Body Structures Identity, Mobility, and Transnationalism

Immigrant Bodily Incorporation: How the Physical Body Structures Identity, Mobility, and Transnationalism

Intergenerational Relationships in Migrant Families. Theoretical and Methodological Issues

‘I think I'm more free with them'—Conflict, Negotiation and Change in Intergenerational Relations in African Families Living in Britain

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