Globalization and Emotional Lives at a Distance: Couples, Refugees and Internet Daters

Emotional Intimacy at a distance is becoming an increasingly likely experience for a wide range of people. In the context of globalization and rapid change, many face novel situations and uncertainty around how to feel. It is argued that emotional reflexivity thus plays an important role in the making, maintaining and unmaking of distance relationships. Yet how it does this is likely to vary depending on social and cultural context and on the type of relationship. Thus, I explore emotional reflexivity with reference to examples from research on academic couples in distance relationships, refugee youth and internet daters. The aim is to examine what emotional reflexivity can contribute to understanding racial and gender inequalities within the context of globalized intimacies.