Translocal Childhoods and Family Mobility in East and North Europe (Studies in Childhood and Youth)

This collection explores mobile childhoods: from Latvia and Estonia to Finland; from Latvia to the United Kingdom; from Russia to Finland; and cyclical mobility by the Roma between Romania and Finland. The chapters examine how east-to-north European family mobility brings out different kinds of multilocal childhoods. The children experience unequal starting points and further twists throughout their childhood and within their family lives. Through the innovative use of ethnographic and participatory methods, the contributors demonstrate how diverse migrant children’s everyday lives are, and how children themselves as well as their translocal families actively pursue better lives. The topics include naming and food practices, travel, schooling, summer holidays, economic and other inequalities, and the importance of age in understanding children’s lives. __Translocal Childhoods and Family Mobility in East and North Europe__ will be of interest to students and scholars across a range of disciplines, including sociology, anthropology and human geography. Preface 6 Acknowledgements 8 Contents 11 Notes on Contributors 13 List of Figures 16 Part I Introduction 17 1 Children in Translocal Families 18 Childhood in Migration and Mobility Studies 19 Translocality: A Grounded Transnationality 22 Embodiment: Emplacement During Mobility 23 Infrastructure: The Materiality and Imagination of Environments 25 Agency: A Child-Centred Approach 27 The Research Contexts 29 The Methodological Journey—Footpaths Towards Translocal Children 33 Structure of the Book 39 References 42 Part II Embodiment 49 2 And so the Journey Begins: An Embodied Approach to Children’s Translocal Materialities 52 Theoretical Underpinnings 54 Methodology: Understanding the Bodily Experiences of Translocal Childhoods 56 Every Time a Slightly Different Boat, Car or Plane 59 Places and Things in Beautiful Colours 63 A Pot of Soup for Goodbyes 66 Translocal Taste Buds 68 Conclusion: Different Layers of Translocalities 71 References 73 3 Doing Translocal Families Through Children’s Names 75 Introduction 75 “My Name Gives Me Stomach Ache”: Transgressing Boundaries 76 Approaching Names Translocally 77 Choosing Children’s Names and Child Experiences: A Note on Methodology 79 Theorising the Embodied Boundary Work of Naming 81 Maintaining and Transgressing Boundaries with a Child’s Name 82 Co-naming: Stretching and Fortifying Boundaries Within a Family 86 Imagining International Future Horizons and the Child’s Own Experiences 89 Malleability of Names Across Borders 92 Conclusion 93 References 95 4 Sensitive Ethnography: A Researcher’s Journey with Translocal Roma Families 98 Introduction 98 Ethnographic Scarcity: Research Ethics in Roma Contexts 101 Embodied Encounters with Roma Children 103 A Roma Family Story in Finland 106 Approaching Children’s Experiences Through Art 109 Unequal Circumstances: Facing Inequality Among Roma in Romania 112 Circumstances That Call for Engagement 116 Conclusion 118 References 121 Part III Infrastructure 124 5 Summer Spaces: Infrastructures, People and Animals in the Baltic Summers 127 Introduction 127 Methodological and Ethical Notes 129 Two Summer Days with Seven-Year-Old Arturs 131 People as ‘Summer Spaces’ 133 The House and Other Important ‘Stuff’ 136 Nature and Animals 139 Looking Forward: Multidirectional Summer Spaces 141 Concluding Discussion on the ‘Idyl’ and on the Temporality of ‘Summer Spaces’ 143 References 147 6 Experiencing Inequality: Children Shaping Their Economic Worlds in a Translocal Context 149 Introduction: “I Want to Be Rich...” 149 Ethnography from Within 151 Creating a New Belonging: Splendid Materiality and Economic Inequality 155 Teenagers’ Food Consumption Practices 160 Understanding Pocket Money Within Money Giving Regimes 162 Negotiating Material Inequality at Christmas 165 Conclusion 167 References 169 7 School as Institution and as Symbol in Estonian Migrant Families’ Lives in Finland 172 Introduction: School at the Centre of Family Negotiations 172 On Methodology: Meeting and Studying Estonian Families in Finland 174 “We Had to Come Here, It Was All Because of Your Work, Mum” 175 “We Have After All a Plan That We Can Give Him a Proper Education” 181 “It’s Nice That We Have Shorter School Days Here” 184 “The Food at Our School Is Terrible” 189 Conclusion: School as a Symbol of the Home Country 191 References 195 Part IV Agencies 197 8 Children’s Agency in Translocal Roma Families 200 Introduction 200 Romanian Roma and ‘Making Europe’ 203 Ethnographic Encounters: Learning to Walk with Children 204 Caring and Being Cared For 208 Meaningful Everyday Places 212 “God Didn’t Leave Me, I Lifted Myself Up” 216 Conclusion 219 References 220 9 ‘Becoming Better’ Through Education: Russian-Speaking Youngsters Narrate Their Childhood Agency in Finland 223 Introduction 223 The Data and Some Methodological Points: ‘Life as Narrative’ 225 New School, Broken Temporality: Immigrant Children’s Agency Contested 228 Children’s Agency at School: Negotiating an Education Course, Continuity and Adultness 231 Making Biographies Through Education 233 Conclusion 235 References 237 10 Age Matters: Encountering the Dynamism of a Child’s Agency from Cradle to Emerging Adulthood 240 Introduction: Agency and Growing Bodies 240 Methodological View: Growing Together with the Research Participants 242 Travelling in a Cradle, in a Pram, on Foot 243 Middle Childhood, or Young School-Age Children 245 Adolescence Remembered and Assessed 247 Young Adults ‘Travel’ Back to Childhood, and to an Imagined Future 250 Discussion 252 References 254 Part V Conclusion 256 11 The Journey Continues 259 Children ‘Do’ Childhoods and Families 261 Children Imagine Futures 263 Children ‘Do’ the World 264 References 266 Index 267 Front Matter ....Pages i-xvii Front Matter ....Pages 1-1 Children in Translocal Families (Laura Assmuth, Marina Hakkarainen, Aija Lulle, Pihla Maria Siim)....Pages 3-33 Front Matter ....Pages 35-37 And so the Journey Begins: An Embodied Approach to Children’s Translocal Materialities (Agnese Bankovska, Pihla Maria Siim)....Pages 39-61 Doing Translocal Families Through Children’s Names (Marta Balode, Aija Lulle)....Pages 63-85 Sensitive Ethnography: A Researcher’s Journey with Translocal Roma Families (Airi Markkanen)....Pages 87-112 Front Matter ....Pages 113-115 Summer Spaces: Infrastructures, People and Animals in the Baltic Summers (Aija Lulle, Pihla Maria Siim)....Pages 117-138 Experiencing Inequality: Children Shaping Their Economic Worlds in a Translocal Context (Marina Hakkarainen)....Pages 139-161 School as Institution and as Symbol in Estonian Migrant Families’ Lives in Finland (Laura Assmuth, Pihla Maria Siim)....Pages 163-187 Front Matter ....Pages 189-191 Children’s Agency in Translocal Roma Families (Anca Enache)....Pages 193-215 ‘Becoming Better’ Through Education: Russian-Speaking Youngsters Narrate Their Childhood Agency in Finland (Marina Hakkarainen)....Pages 217-233 Age Matters: Encountering the Dynamism of a Child’s Agency from Cradle to Emerging Adulthood (Aija Lulle)....Pages 235-250 Front Matter ....Pages 251-253 The Journey Continues (Laura Assmuth, Anca Enache, Marina Hakkarainen, Aija Lulle, Airi Markkanen, Pihla Maria Siim)....Pages 255-262 Back Matter ....Pages 263-271