Migrant Families and Future-Making: Generational Shifts and Transnational Practices in the Contemporary Global Landscape

Transnational families are increasingly shaping the future of societies through their cross-border ties, identities, and obligations. Defined by their mobility and complex interactions across national borders, these families navigate the uncertainties of the global neoliberal regime, marked by precarity, declining state supports, and a pervasive culture of mobility aspirations. While significant research has explored the role of transnational families, there is a need to better understand how their practices evolve over time and across generations. This paper addresses this gap by examining the concept of "future-making" within transnational families, focusing on how generational shifts impact the ways in which family members engage in shaping their futures amidst uncertain and rapidly changing environments. Migration has traditionally been framed through the lens of crisis management and integration, as reflected in research on labor migration in East Asia (Chang, 2014), the political economies of the Middle East and North Africa (Marfleet and Hanieh, 2014), and European Union border policies post-Arab Spring (Jeandesboz and Pallister-Wilkins, 2014). However, less attention has been given to how migrants actively engage in shaping their futures, especially in the context of transnational family life. This paper highlights how cross-border family configurations evolve over the life course of migrant families, especially as children of migrant parents transition into adulthood and adopt new understandings of transnational practices. Additionally, it explores how historical events—such as the Covid-19 pandemic and changing migration policies—reshape family structures and strategies across generations. By focusing on future-making and generational shifts within transnational families, this paper contributes to the broader understanding of how families adapt and transform in response to global socio-political changes, offering insights into the evolving dynamics of transnational practices.