The Reconfiguration of Family Mutual Aid Among Syrian Families in Jordan: Intergenerational and Gender Relations

This presentation deals with family mutual aid in context of conflict and forced migration, based on the case of Syrian refugee families in Jordan. As the conflict continues, the closure of borders and the tightening of Jordan's reception policy has putted family solidarity to the test. In this presentation, I propose to analyse not only the breakdowns, but also the mechanisms for redistributing mutual aid and the forms of collective solidarity in this increasingly constrained context. The first step will be to examine the reconfiguration of intergenerational relations and to show how the ‘generational contract’, previously based on the central role of parents and the cohabitation of several generations, has evolved. It will analyse how children have acquired new responsibilities in contributing to the family economy and caring for younger siblings. It will also look at how the elderly, many of whom have remained in Syria, are cared for and, more generally, what the material and symbolic means of transmission are in this context. The second part of this presentation will be devoted to the distribution of mutual aid according to gender relations. It will show that wartime contexts are conducive to a redistribution of tasks that prolongs gender inequalities within the family sphere rather than subverting them. Because of their ‘vulnerability’, women benefit from easier access to humanitarian aid, the labour market and movement, acquiring an essential role in supporting family economies. However, it is the other generations of women in the family (daughters, sisters, grandmothers, aunts, sisters-in-law and mothers-in-law) who help out with the domestic chores. Moreover, while the war particularly affected the status of men (who are unable to protect their families and are often more affected by restrictions on employment and mobility), women also play a central role in preserving men's social and family status.