Abstract
This chapter analyses the experiences of men ‘at the bottom end’ of transnational care chains in Eastern Europe, addressing masculinity in the context of fatherhood in migrant families.
It is analytically grounded in two case studies: one about Polish migrant men and one about Ukrainian and Polish stay-behind male partners of migrant women. The authors show how norms of masculinity and fatherhood influence the experiences of men in transnational families with both male and female migrants. They retrace how the observed gender orders, in particular the role model of the father, developed historically under socialism and during the post-1989 transformation.
We would like to thank Majella Kilkey for her valuable suggestions and comments on the present chapter.
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- 1.
The term ‘transnational migration’ (as opposed to ‘one-way emigration’) is used here in a broad sense which includes terms such as ‘mobility’, ‘commuting’, ‘shuttle’, ‘circular’, ‘pendular’, ‘seasonal’, or ‘temporal migration’; all point to different aspects of transnational migration.
- 2.
An associated claim was that socialism had encouraged women to be sexually aggressive and ‘that they have ceased to be affectionate and understanding’ (Goven 1993: 227–8).
- 3.
The interviews were conducted with young to middle-aged men (early 20s to late 50s).
- 4.
Unfortunately, we do not have an interview with his wife.
- 5.
It is not clear how many siblings Jan has or had; he mentions 11 persons living in the household.
- 6.
In the initial concept of hegemonic masculinity, Connell (1987) formulated the idea of ‘emphasised feminity’ as a female counterpart to hegemonic masculinity, which explains how hetero-normative norms of femininity support hegemonic masculinities (‘women’s conspiracy’). This part of the concept was not enhanced to this extent as the idea of multiple masculinities yet and hence this study aimed to explore relationality of masculinities in both dimensions—within and between genders. Ewa, this final sentence is not at all clear
- 7.
As European surveys on the quality of life and work have revealed, in Poland non-working women declare a greater degree of life satisfaction than working ones, which the authors interpret as a result of the difficulties with reconciling private and working life (Chustecka 2012: 34).
- 8.
This paragraph is based on the chapter ‘Agents of Change? Masculinity, Care and Stay-Behind Fathers in Post-Socialism’ of the book manuscript: ‘Behind Europe’s Care Curtain. Migration and the Global Market of Care’ by Helma Lutz.
- 9.
Pawel, unlike almost all the other men interviewed, does not leave the entire domestic chores to his wife when she comes home for two months, which indicates that he does not share the mainstream categorization of this work as feminine-gendered.
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Palenga-Möllenbeck, E., Lutz, H. (2016). Fatherhood and Masculinities in Post-socialist Europe: The Challenges of Transnational Migration. 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_10
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