[en] Family and home are often considered inseparable, but the meaning of both of these terms are being re-evaluated in recent scholarship. Their re-evaluation often emerges in studies of migration, where traditional western ideas of family - as being nuclear and sharing the same physical space - and home - as being sedentary and synonymous with house - are disrupted and brought into question. The movement of people, by force or choice, provides a window into many of the fundamental aspects of relationships, belonging and home. This chapter builds on recent re-imaginings and new ways of thinking about home and family by investigating the home-making and family connections of a group of young first-generation migrants (aged 15-25) of different migratory statuses (undocumented, European citizens, refugees, unaccompanied minors) in the city of Brussels. By using data collected through fieldwork in traditionally non-home spaces - such as city streets, group housing, occupied buildings, and churches - this chapter reveals discoveries about the relationship between home and family, and how one may exist without the other. These relationships are illustrated through the ‘home orbit’ – a new way of picturing and understanding the components of home and how they relate to one another.
Disciplines :
Anthropology
Author, co-author :
Damery, Shannon ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département des sciences sociales > Centre d'études de l'ethnicité et des migrations (CEDEM)
Language :
English
Title :
Home without family, family without home: Young migrants’ experiences of home and relationships in the city of Brussels
Publication date :
May 2021
Main work title :
Family Practice in Migration: Everyday Lives and Relationships
Editor :
Montero-Sieburth, Martha
Mas Giralt, Rosa
Garcia-Arjona, Noemi
Eguren, Joaquín
Publisher :
Routledge, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
ISBN/EAN :
9780367677251
Collection name :
Routledge Studies in Development, Mobilities and Migration
Pages :
103-120
Peer reviewed :
Peer reviewed
European Projects :
FP7 - 316796 - INTEGRIM - Integration and international migration: pathways and integration policies
Name of the research project :
INTEGRIM
Funders :
EU - European Union EC - European Commission
Funding text :
European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement n° 316796 in the Marie Curie Initial Training Network.
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