Transnational childrearing and the preservation of transnational identity in Brazzaville, Congo

• Published in: Global networks (Oxford) Vol. 9; no. 1; pp. 82 - 99
• Main Author: WHITEHOUSE, BRUCE
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.01.2009
• Subjects: Child rearing; CHILDREARING; Childrearing Practices; Ethnographic research; Family studies; Identity; MIGRATION; Parent Child Relations; Republic of Congo; REPUBLIC OF CONGO (CONGO-BRAZZAVILLE); Republic of the Congo; TRANSNATIONAL FAMILIES; TRANSNATIONALISM; WEST AFRICA; MIGRATION; CHILDREARING; WEST AFRICA; REPUBLIC OF CONGO (CONGO-BRAZZAVILLE); TRANSNATIONALISM; TRANSNATIONAL FAMILIES
• ISSN: 1470-2266; 1471-0374
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1471-0374.2009.00243.x

Drawing on ethnographic research conducted at two ends of an intra‐Africa migration flow (Mali and the Republic of Congo), in this article I examine the role of childrearing practices in the maintenance of transnationalism. I consider different approaches to transnational childrearing by migrant parents and their reasons for adopting them, and delineate three common modes. The most widespread and socially validated approach is to send children home from Congo to their parents’ places of origin, where child fostering is widespread, to be raised by relatives for long periods; this approach increases the durability of transnational ties. I use childrearing approaches as an analytical lens to demonstrate the complementarity of multiple forms of domestic organization, mobility and settlement in the inter‐generational production and transmission of durable transnational identities. By arguing for greater focus on phenomena such as transnational childrearing, I seek to promote a broader conceptualization of transnationalism.