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Social Integration and Wellbeing Among Transnational Migrants in Family and Community Contexts: The Role of Social Relationships
Social Integration and Wellbeing Among Transnational Migrants in Family and Community Contexts: The Role of Social Relationships
Monday, 11 July 2016: 14:15-15:45
Location: Hörsaal 07 (Main Building)
RC31 Sociology of Migration (host committee) Language: English
Migration studies have extended its concern from the social, economic, political dimensions of transnational migration, to the various aspects of migrant wellbeing. As identified by the 2013 World Migration Report, migrant wellbeing not only refers to the financial, career, and physical aspects, but also includes community wellbeing, social wellbeing, and subjective wellbeing (IOM, 2013).
Social relationships play essential roles in determining human wellbeing (House, 1985; Berkman et al., 2000), yet we know little about how social relationships affect the wellbeing of transnational migrants. Taking transnational marriage migrants as an example, social relationships with marital family members and the native populations may prevent them from social isolation and facilitate their social integration. On the other hand, migrants may experience different types of discrimination (based on gender, social class, ethnicity, etc) when interacting with local people, which may harm their wellbeing.
This session invites research addressing the following questions:
- What types of social relationships do transnational migrants maintain in the residential communities in their host societies?
- How does having or lacking of these social relationships affect migrants’ wellbeing?
- What other macro-, meso-, and micro-level factors in the sending and receiving societies facilitate or hinder migrants’ social relationships with their co-ethnics, migrants of other countries of origin, and the native populations?
Concerning the emphasis on family values in Asian societies and the increase of intra-Asia transnational migrants, this session especially welcomes research on transnational family-related migration within Asia or from Asia, such as transnational marriage migrants, live-in care workers, and many others.
Session Organizer: