Social remittances during COVID-19: on the “new normality” negotiated by transnational families

Abstract

Social remittances- the transfer of ideas, practices, and codes of behaviors- are a well-documented subject in migrant transnationalism literature and transnational family studies. However, the COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak has generated unprecedented regulations around the world which require widening the conceptual basis of social remittances in a state of emergency. As the pandemic progresses, most countries require civilians to follow a number of norms deemed as the “new normality,” while other countries continue to operate under their “old normality,” with minor or no restrictions. As national pandemic policy responses vary across countries, transnational families live under different regimes of “normality.” In these settings, the study of transnational families offers a valuable opportunity to examine a special type of social remittances practiced during global crises, and analyze whether the exchange of rules, practices, and ideas across national borders has any impact on re-shaping and renegotiating pandemic-coping “new normality” practices for both migrants and their families. The paper is based on 13 in-depth interviews conducted with representatives from Armenian transnational families with migrant members in Russia, the Czech Republic, or Belarus. These countries provide a backdrop for an examination of social remittances among transnational families that we term “pandemic transnationalism.” The study shows that the circulation of safety rules and “good practices” actively shapes the everyday behavior of migrants and their families, their level of perceived danger towards the coronavirus, and their practical knowledge of safety measures. The latter are often harnessed in informal collective settings despite being in conflict with the obligations and regulations of their home society.

Social remittances and interpersonal communication: Moldovans in Prague and Turin

“…Misztal 1999). In fact, Galstyan, Galstyan (2021) do the same in relation to the current COVID-19 era.…”

Cezhraničná cirkulácia slovenských opatrovateliek v Rakúsku počas pandémie na pozadí krízy starostlivosti

“…V období pred pandémiou ostávali ženy poskytujúce platenú starostlivosť v Rakúsku napriek svojej absencii a reorganizácii sociálnej reprodukcie v ich rodinách primárne zodpovedné za starostlivosť vo svojich rodinách (Bahna, Sekulová, 2019;Bauer, Österle, 2016;Sekulová, 2013a). Obmedzenia a zmeny spôsobené pandémiou postavili opatrovateľky pred mnohé výzvy a potrebu prispôsobiť zaužívané stratégie v oblasti transnacionálnych rodinných praktík, sociálnej reprodukcie aj prenosu sociálnych remitencií, ktoré literatúra nazýva aj "pandemický transnacionalizmus" (Galstyan, Galstyan, 2021).…”

Life satisfaction among skilled transnational families before and during the COVID‐19 outbreak

“…Transnational communities are developing with migrants' identifications, interactions and practices to different locations (Levitt, 2001). Transnational linkages that connect migrants' country of origin and destination are evolving in scope and variety, and this even more in the new context of the global pandemic (see e.g., Galstyan & Galstyan, 2021;Popyk & Pustułka, 2021). Bryceson and Vuorela (2002) distinguish between different types of separated families on the move.…”