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Journal article

CAREGIVING IN TRANSNATIONAL CONTEXT "My Wings Have Been Cut; Where Can I Fly?"

Date

2003

Authors

DENISE SPITZER, ANNE NEUFELD, MARGARET HARRISON, KAREN HUGHE, and MIRIAM STEWART

Abstract

Migration often requires the renegotiation of familial and gender roles as immigrants encounter potentially competing values and demands. Employing ethnographic methods and including in-depth inter-viewing and participant observation, the authors explore the experiences of29 South Asian and Chinese Canadian female family caregivers. Care-giving was central to their role as women and members of their ethnocultural community. The women were often engaged in paid labor that compressed the time avail-able to fulfill their duties as caregivers. Women's role in the transmission of cultural values that serve to shore up the boundaries of their ethnic community did not allow for significant renegotiation of their care-giving responsibilities despite disrupted family networks and increased demands. These care-giving arrangements are more costly to women in Canada than in their countries of origin.

Journal title

Gender and Society

Volume

17

Issue

2

Page numbers

267-286

Publisher

Sage Publications, Inc

File Attachments

Links

Keywords

Immigrant women; caregiving; transnationalism; Canada; Asian women

Economic sectors

Occupations in services - Domestic work, Home child care providers, and Home support workers, housekeepers and related occupations

Target groups

Researchers

Geographical focuses

China, Philippines, Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Pakistan

Spheres of activity

Gender and sexuality studies

Languages

English