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Journal article

Searching for wages and mothering from afar: The case of Honduran transnational families

Date

2004

Authors

Leah Schmalzbauer

Abstract

This article draws on data from a 2-year two-country study that included 157 people to explore the survival strategies of poor Honduran transnational families. I argue that transnational families, defined as those divided between two nation-states who have maintained close ties, depend on a cross-border division of labor in which productive labor occurs in the host country and reproductive labor in the home country. This article bridges the literatures on transnationalism and families. The transnationalism literature tends to focus on macro processes, whereas the literature on families assumes proximity. This research helps fill the gap in both literatures, exposing the ways in which processes of economic globalization have radically altered family form and function.

Journal title

Journal of Marriage and Family

Volume

66

Links

Economic sectors

Agriculture and horticulture workers, General farm workers, and General relevance - all sectors

Content types

Statistics on work and life conditions

Target groups

Unions

Geographical focuses

Honduras and National relevance

Spheres of activity

Cultural and ethnic studies and Gender and sexuality studies

Languages

English