Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Family Life in an Age of Migration and Mobility pp 287–311Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Defamilialization of Whom? Re-Thinking Defamilialization in the Light of Global Care Chains and the Transnational Circulation of Care

  • Chapter
  • First Online:

Part of the book series: Migration, Diasporas and Citizenship ((MDC))

Abstract

Defamilialization represented an effective response to the corpus of gender-blind concepts in social policy as it placed women’s interest and their corresponding welfare needs at the forefront. But the concept faces new challenges. First, defamilialization as implemented in European countries relies on important flows of migrant care workers. Still it is not fully accessible to migrant care workers themselves. Second, defamilialization, usually in terms of access to paid work and to public support for care, does not sufficiently take into account the specific situation of migrant workers who continue to assume care responsibilities for geographically distant relatives whose care needs are shaped within highly familialistic regimes of the ‘South’. By crossing the literatures on transnational caregiving and on the emancipating potential of welfare states, this chapter brings forward defamilialization from the side of migrant carers and advocates for a more substantive approach in order to reflect their multi-situated and complex trajectories.

We would like to thank Majella Kilkey and Anna Safuta for their insightful comments on previous versions of this chapter. This chapter is based on the research project “Care regimes on the move. Comparing home care to dependent older people in Belgium, England, Italy and Germany” coordinated by Florence Degavre and Marthe Nyssens and financed by MIRE/DREES (for details on the consortium see https://www.uclouvain.be/cirtes.html), and two research projects conducted by Laura Merla : “Transnational care practices of working class Latin American migrants living in Australia and Europe: a comparative perspective” financed by a Marie Curie OIF (MOIF-CT-2006-039076 Transnational care) and the TRANSFAM research project financed by a Marie Curie CIG (P7-PEOPLE-2011-CIG-293461 Transfam)—www.uclouvain.be/transfam.). This chapter reflects the researchers’ point of view only. The sponsors cannot be held responsible for the interpretations made in this chapter.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   109.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD   139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    That is, migrants who are not European Union (EU) citizens.

  2. 2.

    ‘Care circulation’ is defined as ‘the reciprocal, multidirectional and asymmetrical exchange of care that fluctuates over the life course within transnational family networks subject to the political, economic, cultural and social contexts of both sending and receiving societies’ (Baldassar and Merla 2014a: 22). In this chapter, we systematically talk about the transnational circulation of care, in order to reflect our focus on the transnational dimensions of these care flows.

  3. 3.

    In the formal sector, the monthly wage (minimum amount without experience on a full-time basis) is around USD2000 in the voucher system and USD 2100 for professional home care worker. However, full-time work is very uncommon in both sectors: http://www.cne-gnc.be/cmsfiles/file/NON%20MARCHAND/AIDE%20FAMILIALE/20130101_baremes_318_01_RW.pdf.

  4. 4.

    See, for instance, Commission. (2007). On circular migration and mobility partnerships between the EU and Third Countries COM (2007) 248 final.

References

  • Bähr, K., et Degavre, F., (2005). ‘Reproduction contre accumulation: pour une nouvelle intégration des problématiques « Femmes » et « Développement »’ in Froger G. (ed.), La mondialisation contre le développement durable. Coll. Ecopolis. Bruxelles: P.I.E. Peter Lang.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baldassar, L. (2008). Debating culture across distance: Transnational families and the obligation to care. In R. Grillo (Ed.), The family in question: Immigrant and ethnic minorities in multicultural Europe. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baldassar, L., Kilkey, M., Merla, L., & Wilding, R. (2014). Transnational families. In J. Treas, J. Scott, & M. Richards (Eds.), The Wiley-Blackwell companion to the sociology of families. Malden: Wiley Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baldassar, L., & Merla, L. (2014a). Introduction: Conceptualizing care circulation. In L. Baldassar & L. Merla (Eds.), Transnational families, migration and the circulation of care: Understanding mobility and absence in family life. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baldassar, L., & Merla, L. (2014b). Care circulation: Families, mobility and caregiving. In L. Baldassar & L. Merla (Eds.), Transnational families, migration and the circulation of care: Understanding mobility and absence in family life. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baldassar, L., Baldock, C., & Wilding, R. (2007). Families caring across borders: Migration, ageing and transnational caregiving. London: Palgrave McMillan.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Bambra, C. (2007). Defamilialization and welfare state regimes: A cluster analysis. International Journal of Social Welfare, 16, 326–338.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bettio, F., Simonazzi, A., & Villa, P. (2006). Change in care regimes and female migration: The ‘care drain’ in the Mediterranean. Journal of European Social Policy, 16, 271–285.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bode, I., & Champetier, B. (2012). L’européanisation des régimes de care aux aînés. Apports d’une méthode ouverte de comparaison. Sociologie, 3, 283–298.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bribosia, E., & Rea, A. (2002). Le débat sur les nouvelles migrations en Belgique à la lumière des politiques migratoires récentes. In E. Bribosia & A. Rea (Eds.), Les Nouvelles Migrations: Un Enjeu Européen. Complexe: Bruxelles.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bryceson, D., & Vuorela, U. (2002). The transnational family: New European frontiers and global networks. New York: Berg.

    Google Scholar 

  • Caestecker, F. (2006). Histoire de la migration aux XIX° et XX° siècles (1830–2000). In B. Khader et al. (Eds.), Penser l’immigration et l’intégration autrement. Une initiative belge inter-universitaire. Bruxelles: Bruylant.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cangiano, A., Shutes, I., Spencer, S., & Leeson, G. (2009). Migrant care workers in ageing societies: Report on research findings in the UK. Oxford: COMPAS.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cassarino, J.-P. (2013). The drive for securitized temporariness. In A. Triandafyllidou (Ed.), Circular migration between Europe and its neighbourhood: Choice or necessity? Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Da Roit, B., & Le Bihan, B. (2009). La prise en charge des personnes âgées dépendantes en France et en Italie. Familialization ou défamilialization du care? Lien Social et Politiques, 62, 41–55.

    Google Scholar 

  • Degavre, F., & Langwiesner, G. (2011). Le care comme stratégie migratoire: quel gain d’autonomie pour les femmes? In M.-P. Arrizabalaga, D. Burgos, & M. Yusta (Eds.), Femmes et stratégies transnationales (XVIIIe-XXIe siècles). Bruxelles: Pieter Lang.

    Google Scholar 

  • Degavre, F., & M. Nyssens (Dir.), Bode I., Breda J., Fernandez J.-L., Simonazzi A. (2012). Care regimes on the move. Comparing home care to dependent older people in Belgium, England, Italy and Germany, Research report, Louvain-la-Neuve: Université catholique de Louvain.

    Google Scholar 

  • Degavre, F., Gambaro, L., & Simonazzi, A. (2014). Pragmatique ou radicale? La défamilialization par les politiques d’aide à domicile en Europe. In J. Marquet, N. Marquis, & A.-M. Vuilleminot (Eds.), Corps Soignés, Corps Soignants: Les Soins Infirmiers de la Formation à la Profession. Louvain-La-Neuve: Academia Lharmattan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Di Santo, P., & Ceruzzi, F. (2009). Developing and ensuring quality: National report Italy. Rome: Interlinks. http://interlinks.euro.centre.org/sites/default/files/WP4_IT_final.pdf.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eborall, C., Fenton, W., & Woodrow, S. (2010). The state of the adult social care workforce in England: The fourth report of skills for care’s research and analysis units. Leeds: Skills for Care.

    Google Scholar 

  • Esping-Andersen, G. (1990). The three worlds of welfare capitalism. Cambridge: Polity Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Esping-Andersen, G. (1999). Social foundations of post-industrial economies. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • FitzGerald Murphy, M. (2014). Global care chains, commodity chains and the valuation of care: A theoretical discussion. American International Journal of Social Science, 3, 191–199.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hobson, B. (1994). Solo mothers, policy regimes and the logics of gender. In D. Sainsbury (Ed.), Gendering welfare regimes. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hochschild, A. R. (2000). Global care chains and emotional surplus value. In W. Hutton & A. Giddens (Eds.), On the edge: Living with global capitalism. London: Jonathan Cape.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hochschild, A. R. (2005). Love and gold. In L. Ricciutelli (Ed.), Women, power and justice: A global perspective. Toronto: Zed/Innana Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jolly, S., & Reeves, H. (2005). Gender and migrations. Panorama. Brighton: Bridge.

    Google Scholar 

  • KCE. (2011). Rapport annuel, Centre d’expertise en soins de santé. Bruxelles: KCE. https://kce.fgov.be/sites/default/files/page_documents/KCE_Rapport_Annuel_2011.pdf.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kilkey, M., & Bradshaw, J. (1999). Lone mothers, economic well-being and policies. In D. Sainsbury (Ed.), Gender and welfare state regimes. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kilkey, M., & Merla, L. (2014). Situating transnational families’ care-giving arrangements: The role of institutional contexts. Global Networks, 14, 210–229.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Knijn, T., & Kremer, M. (1997). Gender and the caring dimension of welfare states: Toward inclusive citizenship. Social Politics, 4, 328–361.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kofman, E. (2012). Rethinking care through social reproduction: Articulating circuits of migration. Social Politics, 19, 142–162.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kofman, E., & Raghuram, P. (2009). The implications of migration for gender and care regimes in the South. Geneva: UNRISD.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leira, A., & Saraceno, C. (2002). Care: Actors, relationships and contexts. In B. Hobson, J. Lewis, & B. Siim (Eds.), Contested concepts in gender and social politics. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewis, J., B. Hobson, B. (1997). Introduction, in Lewis., J. Lone mothers in European welfare regimes: shifting policy logics. London and Philadelphia: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewis, J., Campbell, M., & Huerta, C. (2008). Patterns of paid and unpaid work in Western Europe: Gender, commodification, preferences and the implications for policy. Journal of European Social Policy, 18, 21–37.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lister, R. (1997). Citizenship: Feminist Perspectives. London: Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lister, R. (2003). Citizenship. Feminist perspectives. Basingstoke: Palgrave.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lutz, H., & Palenga-Möllenbeck, E. (2011). Care, gender and migration: Towards a theory of transnational domestic work migration in Europe. Journal of Contemporary European Studies, 19, 349–364.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lutz, H., & Palenga-Möllenbeck, E. (2012). Care workers, care drain and care chains: Reflections on central perceptions in the debate about care and migration. Social Politics, 19, 15–37.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martínez Franzoni, J. (2008). Domesticar la incertidumbre en América Latina. Mercado laboral, política social y familias. San José: Universidad de Costa Rica.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mazzucato, V. (2013). Transnational families, research and scholarship. In The encyclopedia of global human migration. Oxford: Wiley Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • McLoughlin, S., & Münn R. (2011). Temporary and circular migration: Opportunities and challenges. Working paper n°35. Brussels: European Policy Centre.

    Google Scholar 

  • Merla, L. (2010). La gestion des émotions dans le cadre du devoir filial: Le cas des migrants salvadoriens vivant en Australie occidentale. Recherches sociologiques et Anthropologiques, 41, 39–58.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Merla, L. (2011). Familles salvadoriennes à l’épreuve de la distance. Autrepart, 57(58), 145–162.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Merla, L. (2012a). Salvadoran transnational families, distance and eldercare: Understanding transnational care practices in Australia and Belgium. In T. Geisen, T. Studer, & E. Yildiz (Eds.), Migration, Familie und Soziale Lage: Beiträge zu Bildung, Gender und Care. Wiesbaden: Springer VS.

    Google Scholar 

  • Merla, L. (2012b). Salvadoran migrants in Australia: An analysis of transnational families’ capability to care across borders. International Migration (Published online).

    Google Scholar 

  • Merla, L. (2014). A macro perspective on transnational families and care circulation: Situating capacity, obligation and family commitments’. In L. Baldassar & L. Merla (Eds.), Transnational families, migration and the circulation of care: Understanding mobility and absence in family life. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Merla, L., & Baldassar, L. (2011). Transnational caregiving between Australia, Italy and El Salvador. In E. Aaddis, P. De Villota, F. Degavre, & J. Eriksen (Eds.), Gender and wellbeing: The role of institutions. London: Ashgate.

    Google Scholar 

  • Orloff, A. (1993). Gender and the social rights of citizenship: The comparative analysis of gender relations and welfare states. American Sociological Review, 58, 303–328.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parreñas, R. S. (2000). Migrant Filipina domestic workers and the international division of reproductive labour. Gender and Society, 14, 560–580.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pasquinelli, S., & Rusmini, G. (2008). Badanti: la nuova generazione: Caratteristiche e tendenze del lavoro privato di cura. Milano: Istituto per la ricerca sociale.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pyle, J. L. (2006). Globalization and the increase in transnational care work: The flip side. Globalizations, 3, 297–315.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Queirolo Palmas, L., & Ambrosini, M. (2008). Les leçons de l’immigration latino-américaine vers l’Europe et l’Italie. In Y. del Castillo & G. Herrera (Eds.), Nouvelles migrations latino-américaines en Europe. Bilans et defis. Barcelona et Louvain-la-Neuve: Publicacions i editions de la Universidad de Barcelona et Presses Universitaires de Louvain.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rummery, K. (2009). A comparative discussion of the gendered implications of cash-for-care schemes: Markets, independence and social citizenship in crisis? Social Policy and Administration, 6, 634–648.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Safuta, A. (forthcoming), Between familialism and formalization: Migrant domestic services provided informally in two diverging policy contexts, Doctoral dissertation, Louvain-la-Neuve: Université Catholique de Louvain.

    Google Scholar 

  • Safuta, A., & Degavre, F. (2013). What has Polanyi got to do with it? Undocumented migrant domestic workers and the usages of reciprocity. In L. Oso & N. Ribas Mateos (Eds.), The international handbook on gender, migration and transnationalism: Global and development perspectives. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sainsbury, D. (Ed.). (1994). Gendering welfare regimes. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sainsbury, D. (2006). Immigrants’ social rights in comparative perspective: Welfare regimes, forms of immigration and immigration policy regimes. Journal of European Social Policy, 16, 229–244.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shutes, I., Chiatti, C. (2011). ‘Migrant Labour and the Marketisation of Long-Term Care in Italy and the UK’, paper presented at the ESPAnet Annual Conference, University of Valencia, 8–10 September 2011.

    Google Scholar 

  • Simonazzi, A. (2009). Care regimes and national employment models. Cambridge Journal of Economics, 33, 211–232.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tronto, J. (2011). A feminist democratic ethics of care and global care workers: Citizenship and responsibility. In R. Mahon & F. Robinson (Eds.), Feminist ethics and social policy: Towards a new global political economy of care. Vancouver: UBC Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Hooren, F. (2011). Caring migrants in European welfare regimes: The policies and practice of migrant labour filling the gaps in social care. Thesis for Doctor of Political and Social Sciences, The European University Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wall, K., & José, J. S. (2004). Managing work and care: A difficult challenge for immigrant families. Social Policy & Administration, 38, 591–621.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Waylen, G. (1998). Gender, feminism and the state. In V. Randall & G. Waylen (Eds.), Gender, politics and the state. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams, F. (2011). Towards a transnational analysis of the political economy of care. In R. Mahon & F. Robinson (Eds.), Feminist ethics and social policy: Towards a new global political economy of care. Vancouver: UBC Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams, F. (2012). Converging variations in migrant care work in Europe. Journal of European Social Policy, 22, 363–376.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yeates, N. (2009). Globalizing care economies and migrant workers: Explorations in global care chains. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yeates, N. (2012). Global care chains: A state of the art review and future directions in care transnationalization research. Global Networks, 12, 135–154.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yépez del Castillo, I., & Merla, L. (2013). Stratégies familiales, projets migratoires et mobilité sociale: les envois de fonds comme vecteurs de reproduction sociale et d’autonomisation. Cahiers Genre et Développement, 9, 205–215.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Catholic University of Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium

    Florence Degavre & Laura Merla

Authors
  1. Florence Degavre
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Laura Merla
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Florence Degavre .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociological Studies, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom

    Majella Kilkey

  2. Department of Gender Studies, University of Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Hessen, Germany

    Ewa Palenga-Möllenbeck

Copyright information

© 2016 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Degavre, F., Merla, L. (2016). Defamilialization of Whom? Re-Thinking Defamilialization in the Light of Global Care Chains and the Transnational Circulation of Care. In: Kilkey, M., Palenga-Möllenbeck, E. (eds) Family Life in an Age of Migration and Mobility. Migration, Diasporas and Citizenship. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-52099-9_13

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-52099-9_13

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-137-52097-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-137-52099-9

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation