Migration, families and households in globalizing Asia

This chapter examines the conceptual tools that have gained traction in understanding the links between globalization, transnational migration, families and households in the context of Asia, particularly East and Southeast Asia. We discuss two complementary approaches in particular, namely, ‘transnational families’ and ‘global householding’, and argue for recognizing the ‘family’ and ‘household’ as important sites and scales of analysis to think about globalization as an integral aspect of the social sphere, and as a route to understanding the inner workings of ‘intimate globalization’. The chapter goes on to develop two themes of particular relevance to Asia: first, how the feminization of migration has impacted the gender politics of social reproduction in families and households in source communities, especially in terms of gender identities, relations and subjectivities; and second, how care-driven migration is transforming the provision of intergenerational care along gender, class and other dimensions in both source and receiving societies in Asia. A brief conclusion highlights the need to place families and households on the research agenda in globalizing Asia.