Author Identifier (ORCID)
Catriona Stevens: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2207-687X
Loretta Baldasar: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6246-4773
Abstract
This chapter explores how practices of digital kinning and digital homing enacted through smartphones shape the experiences of Chinese older adults in Perth, Australia. Transnational grandparent carers must balance the risks of diminished social networks with the benefits of providing intergenerational care. Some form strong friendships in Perth, but many yearn for a leisured life with their friends in China. Findings illustrate the central role of digital migration practices in transnational families and friendships, not only sustaining distant support networks, but also building new communities in host settings. However, for some, the co-presence afforded through WeChat may intensify feelings of loss and dislocation. Observing these digital practices reveals the emotional geographies that characterize the lives of aged migrants and transnational caregivers.
Document Type
Book Chapter
Date of Publication
1-1-2024
Volume
215
Publication Title
Doing Digital Migration Studies: Theories and Practices from the Everyday
Publisher
Amsterdam University Press
School
School of Arts and Humanities
RAS ID
64935
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Comments
Stevens, C., Baldassar, L., & Wilding, R. (2024). Friendship, connection and loss: Everyday digital kinning and digital homing among Chinese transnational grandparents in Perth, Australia. In Doing Digital Migration Studies: Theories and Practices of the Everyday (pp. 113–132). Amsterdam University Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/jj.11895524.11