Transnational Grandparenting and Well-being: A Comparative Analysis

While on sabbatical for the Spring 2016 semester, Judith Freidenberg intends to work on a continuing project. This sabbatical research will contribute to an understudied stage of the immigrant life course. How does human mobility affect intergenerational relations? Specifically how, and to what extent, does migration disrupt the role expected of grandparents; how does transnational grandparenthood vary cross-culturally, by social class and geographical location, including the nation-states where dispersed families reside? Dr. Freidenberg will address these questions through an ethnographic study of US nationals in Argentina, and a collaboration with colleagues at universities in the US and abroad. The result will be a multi-sited, comparative study regarding the transnational social roles of grandparenthood. The project is significant to understanding US emigration and contributes to the emergent scholarship on transnational aging, and to comprehending the framing of grandparent identities and their implications for family organization and well-being across space. 

Published on Mon, 02/08/2016 - 16:33