Current Sociology

Please welcome our Sociologists of the Month for October 2022, Adrienne Lee Atterberry (State University of New York, USA), Derrace G. McCallum (Aichi University, Japan), and Yifei Lu (Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, China). Their introductory article to the Special SubSection for Current Sociology Volume 70 Issue 6, Interrogating parenting and intergenerational relationships within national and transnational contexts is Free Access.

Adrienne Lee Atterberry

Derrace G. McCallum

Yifei Lu

Could you please tell us about yourself? How did you come to your field of study?

A.L. Atterberry: I earned my Ph.D. in sociology from Syracuse University in 2021. Currently, I work for the State University of New York (SUNY) at New Paltz as a PRODiG Fellow with the title of Visiting Assistant Professor of Sociology. I am a qualitative researcher whose scholarly interests include international migration, parenting, and teachers’ work. My most recent publication, “Intensive teaching: Examining teachers’ professional pressures and pedagogical practices at an elite school,” (Contemporary Education Dialogue) explores how teachers navigate their relationships with parents and administrators to produce ‘good’ student outcomes.

Currently, I am working on a book project that interrogates how the global IT industry affects the lives and lifestyles of a segment of the transnational elite. I focus my study specifically on return migrants and their families who live in Bangalore, a city in southwest India. The article I published as part of this SSS comes from a segment of the research that I completed for this larger project.

I came to my current field of study while conducting pre-dissertation research in Bangalore. While there, I continuously met return migrants from the USA who uprooted their relatively comfortable lives to move to their country of origin. The return migration of individuals who are relatively well-settled in their ‘host’ country challenged much of what I read related to immigrant integration. Therefore, to better understand this group, I decided to investigate the factors that led them to relocate to their country of origin, as well as the social and cultural implications of this move on themselves and their families.

D.G. McCallum: I am Derrace G. McCallum, originally from Hanover, Jamaica. I currently serve as an Assistant Professor of English & Cultural Studies in the Department of Global Liberal Arts at Aichi University in Nagoya, Japan. My main research interests include: migration, transnationalism, family life, race/ethnicity, multiculturalism, gender, care and social policy. I am the author of several journal articles and book chapters that examine different aspects of social policy and the experiences of transnational families.

Before joining Aichi University, I worked as an English teacher for many years while completing my masters (2016) and PhD (2020) at the Graduate School of International Development, Nagoya University. While my graduate degrees are in International Development, my major was in Social Development and Culture; and my thesis and dissertation were both focused on the sociology of transnational families. My master’s thesis explores the experiences of Jamaican transnational mothers in New York City and documents their stories in light of current research which investigates how transnational motherhood transgresses gender stereotypes and pushes the boundaries of gender roles and expectations. The stories shared in my thesis vividly capture the women’s narratives of loss, longing, empowerment and shared responsibilities across borders. The essence of this thesis was published as a journal article and can be found here. In my PhD dissertation, I expanded the discourse from my master’s study by exploring “care circulation” within wider family networks. In this study, I focused on the case of Filipino transnational families with members in the Chubu region of Japan. Chapters from my dissertation are published as journal articles and book chapters (links are provided below).

Currently, I am conducting research regarding the transition of Japan into a more multicultural society; primarily focusing on the experiences of relatively new migrant groups.

Y. Lu: My name is Yifei Lu, I have studied in Korea, France, and Spain, which give me the chance to learn about different cultures and understand the diversity of our society. I got my Doctoral degree in sociology from Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona last year, now I am an assistant professor at Southwestern University of Finance and Economics in China. I am always interested in the study of inequality, I had a master’s degree in economics, but I was not quite convinced with the economic explanations of inequality. One day, I read a book by French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, I was excited by his cultural capital theory, so I started to pursue my career in this field.

What prompted you to research the area of your Special SubSection on the theme “Interrogating parenting and intergenerational relationships within national and transnational contexts” and how did you come to organize it?

A.L. Atterberry: This SSS focuses on the intricacies of parenting and intergenerational relationships within national and transnational contexts. My interest in this topic stems from the conversations I had with Bangalore-based return migrant parents. While there, I asked them about their aspirations for their children, the challenges that they face as parents, and the resources they use to ‘secure’ their children’s futures. Through these conversations, I noticed patterns in respondents’ answers. They shared with me how raising their children in India, enrolling them in ‘good’ schools, and taking them on international trips was vital to them successfully navigating the global economy. I conceptualize these parenting practices as transnational concerted cultivation. I presented this concept during the International Sociological Association’s (ISA) International Laboratory for Ph.D. Students in 2019, where I met the SSS’ other co-organizers: Derrace McCallum and Yifei Lu.

After completing the Lab, Current Sociology provided all participants with the opportunity to draft a proposal for an SSS that promotes the scholarship of early-career researchers. Through this opportunity, I collaborated with McCallum and Lu to create this SSS centered on our shared interests in parenting and intergenerational relationships.

D.G. McCallum: My academic interest in the experiences of these families stems from my own personal experience as a transnational family member. As I grew up and progressed towards graduate studies, what was a childhood curiosity became a deeper desire to explore and understand the dynamics of these social relations across borders and generations.

This SSS emerged from the insightful academic exchanges and discussions at the 2019 ISA International Laboratory for PhD Students in Sociology, held under theme: “Mobilities and Social Inequalities in a Globalized World”. During our exchanges, Adrienne, Yifei and I quickly recognized that we share common research interests. Subsequently, we agreed to pursue academic collaborations. In addition to the other young sociologists who attended, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Lab’s organizers: Laura Oso Casas, Filomin C. Gutierrez, and Mounir Saidani, who planned and coordinated the lab sessions on behalf of the International Sociological Association.

What do you see as the key findings of your Special SubSection?

A.L. Atterberry: The key lesson from this SSS is that families meet the challenges of the contemporary moment as best they can by establishing sophisticated social and cultural processes designed to secure their family’s status now and into the future. The social and cultural practices highlighted in this SSS include schooling decisions, transnational gift-giving, grandparent caregiving, the intergenerational transmission of cognitive and academic advantages, and cultural socialization. Collectively, these articles speak to the dynamic and multifaceted nature of family life in the 21st century.

D.G. McCallum: The articles featured in this SSS are authored by a culturally-diverse group of scholars from North America, East Asia, and the Caribbean. The academic work being done by these authors are theoretically rich and diverse, to the extent that they adopt different theoretical perspectives to analyse and comprehend diverse human experiences, particularly as it relates to parenting and grandparenting in contemporary family life. The articles illustrate how parents respond to new challenges in terms of equipping their children with the resources and skills necessary to achieve social mobility within the current knowledge economy (Atterberry, Lu et al., and Tu), the complexities involved in maintaining intergenerational relationships within transnational and immigrant families (McCallum and Kim), and the nuanced messages parents pass onto their children about their ethnic and racial heritage (Etienne).

In my particular paper entitled “Affectionate remittances: Materialism and care in Filipino transnational families in Japan”, I explore how Filipino transnational families circulate love and affection through material exchanges and economic transactions. I explain how and why the Filipino traditions of gift-giving and the sending of balikbayan boxes are closely linked to the creation, embodiment and maintenance of familial ties and belonging, despite geographical dispersion.

Y. Lu: I think our SSS is very interesting in the way that it includes studies of diverse ethnical groups in different national contexts. It shows how social and cultural factors affect people’s behaviour. For example, both Chinese migrants in the US and Filipino migrants in Japan have a similar dilemma in intergenerational relationships, however, because they are in different social environments and have different cultures, their stories are very different. Also, articles in the SSS use different sociological perspectives and sociological methods to investigate those problems, they are good examples for ECRs to make a comparison between sociological methods.

What are the wider social implications of your research in the current social climate? How do you think things will change in the future?

A.L. Atterberry: My article asks the following question: What factors do return migrant parents consider when making schooling decisions? It answers this question by identifying the school characteristics that parents feel are most important to preparing their children for transnationally mobile futures. In the process of identifying how parents discern whether a school is ‘good,’ I also address how the local schooling options and parents’ backgrounds shape their choice.

As a sociologist, I can appreciate how prevailing social conditions shape micro-level decisions, such as where to educate a child. For example, during my time in Bangalore, I became aware of how quickly the educational landscape could change as new schools were created and existing schools began to offer additional curricula. Therefore, I imagine that Bangalore’s educational landscape has changed a good deal since I completed my research. Additionally, I finished this study prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, which ushered in challenges to international travel, skyrocketing inflation, and – in some cases – a more rigidly defined ethno-racial social structure punctuated by increased incidents of violent interracial contact. These are just two examples of changes that may significantly impact where and how parents educate their children. Therefore, my hope is that this article inspires others to conduct similar studies. Such research would provide a more comprehensive and nuanced understanding of the evolving nature of how parents make schooling decisions.

D.G. McCallum: This SSS comes at a critical juncture in the analysis of social life, especially family life lived across international borders. The recent pandemic brought social life to a frightening halt, which affected our mobility and the ways in which we “do family”. The articles in this SSS examine various issues before the pandemic happened. Therefore, going forward, it will be interesting to see how these dynamics have changed or evolved. We are all called as sociologists and social scientists to re-examine what we knew before and what our current experiences mean for the future of social inquiry. In particular, it might be necessary to explore whether familial roles across generations have been sustained and whether those roles can be effectively played by others outside the traditional family network. In addition, as many regions continue to age and current youth and middle-aged migrants age in their host countries, it will be interesting to see how family life evolves in an increasingly globalized world.

Y. Lu: My research addresses the importance of relational thinking. Currently, we are experiencing a rapid change era, the post-covid challenge, the rise of nationalist, economic recession, global warming, those things may look like happening suddenly, but they are not, so when we try to understand current situation, it is important to figure out the interrelationship among those challenges in the political sphere, social sphere, and economic sphere.

Do you have any links to images, documents or other pieces of research which build on or add to the Special SubSection? Or a suggested reading list?

A.L. Atterberry: I would like to suggest the following books and articles on the topic of parenting and intergenerational relationships:

- Dhingra, P. (2020). Hyper Education: Why Good Schools, Good Grades, and Good Behavior Are Not Enough. NYU Press.

- Dow, D. M. (2019). Mothering While Black: Boundaries and Burdens of Middle-Class Parenthood. University of California Press.

- Karam, R. A. (2020). Becoming American by becoming Muslim: Strategic assimilation among second-generation Muslim American parents. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 43(2), 390–409. https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2019.1578396

- Warikoo, N. (2022). Race at the Top: Asian Americans and Whites in Pursuit of the American Dream in Suburban Schools. University of Chicago Press.

- Wyss M., & Nedelcu, M. (2020). Grandparents on the move: A multilevel framework analysis to understand diversity in zero-generation care arrangements in Switzerland. Global Networks, 20(2), 343–361. https://doi.org/10.1111/glob.12250

Additionally, below I provide information about a book chapter that I published on school-switching behavior among return migrant parents. This book chapter offers a more refined look at school choice by considering how parents move their children from one school to another in hopes to securing the best education for them at different stages of development.

A. L. (2021). Optimizing the Benefits from Schooling: School-Switching Behavior Among Return Migrants in India. In F. Peddie & J. Liu (Eds.), Education and Migration in an Asian Context (pp. 115–136). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6288-8_6

D.G. McCallum: I would like to recommend the following reading materials:

- Baldassar, L., & Merla, L. (2014). Transnational families, migration and the circulation of care: Understanding mobility and absence in family life. Routledge Research in Transnationalism. New York: Routledge.

- Baldassar, L., Baldock, C.V. & Wilding, R. (2007). Families caring across borders: Migration, ageing and transnational caregiving. Palgrave Macmillan: Basingstoke.

- Boccagni, P., & Baldassar, L. (2015). Emotions on the move: Mapping the emergent field of emotion and migration. Emotion, Space and Society, 16, 73-80. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.emospa.2015.06.009

- Schuerkens U. (2005). Transnational migrations and social transformations: A theoretical perspective. Current Sociology 53(4), 535-553. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0011392105052714

- McCallum, D.G. (2021). Going home to learn: Educational journeys of children in Filipino transnational families in Japan. In F. Peddie & J. Liu (Eds.). Education and Migration in an Asian Context (pp. 93-113). Singapore: Springer Nature. https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-981-33-6288-8

- McCallum, D.G. (2021). Contentious relations and emotional burdens: Remittances in Filipino transnational families. Social Transformations Journal of the Global South, 9(1), 71-91. https://dx.doi.org/10.13185/STJGS2021.09105

- McCallum, D.G. (2018). Typologies of Caring Roles in Filipino Transnational Families: An Analysis of Care Circulation from a Life Course Perspective. Forum of International Development Studies, No. 49.