Transnational Aging

This book focuses on the diverse interrelationships between aging and transnationality. It argues that the lives of older people are increasingly entangled in transnational contexts on the social as well as the cultural, economic and political levels. Within these contexts, older people both actively contribute to and are affected by border-crossing processes. In addition, while some may voluntarily opt for adding a transnational dimension to their lives, others may have less choice in the matter. Transnational aging, therefore, provides a critical lens on how older people shape, organize and cope with life in contexts that are no longer bound to the frame of a single nation-state. Accordingly, the book emphasizes the agency of older people as well as the personal and structural constraints of their situations. The chapters in this book reveal these aspects by approaching transnational aging from different methodological angles, such as ethnographic research, comparative studies, quantitative data, and policy and discourse analysis. Geographically, the chapters cover a wide range of countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, North and South America, such as Namibia, Thailand, Russia, Germany, the United States and Ecuador.

Vincent Horn is a PhD candidate and resesarch associate in the Institute of Education at the University of Mainz (Germany). Cornelia Schweppe is a Professor of Social Pedagogy in the Institute of Education and Director of the Research Center for Transnational Social Support (TRANSSOS) at the University of Mainz (Germany).

Introduction: Transnational Aging: Current Insights and Future Challenges Vincent Horn and Cornelia Schweppe Part A: Aging and the Family in Transnational Contexts: Cross-Border Activities and Intergenerational Relationships 1. Migration Regimes and Family-Related Transnational Activities of Older Peruvians in Spain and the United States Vincent Horn 2. Intergenerational Solidarity in Migrant Families from the Former Soviet Union: Comparing Migrants Whose Parents Live in Germany to Migrants with Parents Abroad Elena Sommer and Claudia Vogel 3. Remaking the Yanga Kawsay: Andean Elders, Children, and Domestic Abuse in the Transmigration Logics of Highland Ecuador Jason Pribilsky 4. Transnational Babushka: Grandmothers and Family-Making Between Russian Karelia and Finland Tatiana Tiaynen-Qadir Part B: Migration in Later Life: Transnational Strategies and Managing Risk in Old Age 5. Transnational Aging as Reflected in Germany's Pension Insurance Ralf Himmelreicher and Wolfgang Keck 6. Maintaining Dual Residences to Manage Risks in Later Life: A Comparison of Two Groups of Older Migrants Anita Böcker and Canan Balkir 7. Pendular Migration of the Older First Generations in Europe: Misconceptions and Nuances Tineke Fokkema, Eralba Cela and Yvonne Witter Part C: Facets of Old Age Care in a Transnational World: Traveling Institutions, Boundary Objects and Regimes of Inequality 8. "Moving (for) Elder Care Abroad": The Fragile Promises of Old Age Care Facilities for Elderly Germans in Thailand Vincent Horn, Cornelia Schweppe, Désirée Bender and Tina Hollstein 9. Traveling Institutions as Transnational Aging: The Old-Age Home in Idea and Practice in India Sarah Lamb 10. Negotiating the Potato: The Challenge of Dealing with Multiple Diversities in Elder Care Karin van Holten and Eva Soom Ammann 11. More Than Demand and Demographic Ageing: Transnational Ageing, Care and Care Migration Susan McDaniel and Seonggee Um Part D: Social Protection and Transnational Aging: The Circulation of Ideas and the Role of Non-Governmental Actors 12. Older Persons' Rights: How Ideas Travel in International Development Carmen Grimm 13. From Alms to Rights: Boundaries of a Transnational Non-Governmental Organization Implementing an Unconditional Old-Age Pension Katrin Fröhlich