Volume 42 • Issue 2 • 2012 • 2012 - Special Issue: Imagined Families in Mobile Worlds

Imagined Families in Mobile Worlds Though a seemingly stable concept in ethnological work, “family” as a lived reality took and takes on innumerable forms shaped by economic pressures, mobility and attendant social transformations, and biotechnical interventions. The case studies in this special issue focus on the ways in which social actors seek to concretize as well as control what family could or should be. While (bio-)technological innovation proves vital to fulfill traditional imaginaries of a nuclear family, communication technology is a key to keep transnationally situated families in contact. Still, transnational work opportunities conflict with traditional imaginaries of the wholesome families and impact particularly women seeking to cross both borders and established family norms. Popular genealogy as a hobby and passion uncovers evidence that counters established narratives: instead of long-term sedentary family lineages, evidence of migration muddies the waters. Family metaphor, finally, serves, in one of the case studies, as vocabulary to materialize imaginary kinship ties among nuns. The five case studies are complemented by four commentaries, exploring paths along which these themes can be developed further.


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KAROL'S KINGDOM

Marie Sandberg

2012-07-01 Volume 42 • Issue 2 • 2012 • 2012 - Special Issue: Imagined Families in Mobile Worlds • 85-93

FROM ACCOMPANYING FAMILY MEMBER TO ACTIVE SUBJECT

Beatriz Lindqvist

2012-07-01 Volume 42 • Issue 2 • 2012 • 2012 - Special Issue: Imagined Families in Mobile Worlds • 94-99

THE MATERIALITY OF THE IMAGINED FAMILY

Laura Stark

2012-07-01 Volume 42 • Issue 2 • 2012 • 2012 - Special Issue: Imagined Families in Mobile Worlds • 103-107

Open section

IMAGINED FAMILIES IN MOBILE WORLDS

Ina Merkel and Karen Körber

2012-07-01 Volume 42 • Issue 2 • 2012 • 2012 - Special Issue: Imagined Families in Mobile Worlds • 5-11

SO FAR AND YET SO NEAR

Karen Körber

2012-07-01 Volume 42 • Issue 2 • 2012 • 2012 - Special Issue: Imagined Families in Mobile Worlds • 12-25

“THE DAUGHTERS HAVE GROWN UP”

Gertrud Hüwelmeier

2012-07-01 Volume 42 • Issue 2 • 2012 • 2012 - Special Issue: Imagined Families in Mobile Worlds • 28-37

GROUNDING THE FAMILY

Elisabeth Timm

2012-07-01 Volume 42 • Issue 2 • 2012 • 2012 - Special Issue: Imagined Families in Mobile Worlds

HOW GENDERED IS THE EUROPEAN MIGRATION REGIME?

Sabine Hess

2012-07-01 Volume 42 • Issue 2 • 2012 • 2012 - Special Issue: Imagined Families in Mobile Worlds • 51-68

WHO IS AFRAID OF FRANKENSTEIN?

Magdalena Radkowska-Walkowicz

2012-07-01 Volume 42 • Issue 2 • 2012 • 2012 - Special Issue: Imagined Families in Mobile Worlds • 68-84

IMMIGRATION – AND SECRETS

Karin Lützen

2012-07-01 Volume 42 • Issue 2 • 2012 • 2012 - Special Issue: Imagined Families in Mobile Worlds • 100-102

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