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Migration and The Family Transformations It “Leaves Behind”: A Critical View From Ecuador

Abstract:Increasing awareness has been raised, in a transnational perspective, on the significant effects of an extended separation on the relationships between family members “here” and “there”. Widely debated, in this perspective, is the nexus between parental emigration and the social reproduction of those left behind, with particular respect to dependent children. My article explores along these lines the evolution of “after-migration” intergenerational relationships in Ecuador. In this country a massive, mostly female-led emigration has made the conditions of children left behind increasingly salient, whether for their peculiar vulnerability or the stigmatization they are subject to. Building on my analysis of the Ecuadorian case, I first investigate the changing intra-family roles, relationships and expectations that emerge in Ecuadorian families after mothers’ emigration; second, the interaction between informal caregivers’ and emigrant parents’ initiatives in providing care to left-behind kids; third, the prospects for the lenses of care drain and transnational caregiving to be reconciled with each other as a requisite for more inclusive policies. Overall, this article argues for the need to appreciate the structure of opportunities of home societies as a major influence on transnational family living, and as an optic for advancing the relevant theoretical debate.