Meaning and Experience of International Migration in Black African South African Families.

This article explores the experiences of some Black South African families affected by international migration. Historically, emigration from South Africa has occurred in waves, and has been associated with specific political moments. Such migration has often been perceived as a predominantly "White phenomenon", but recent trends reveal a more complex picture. Prior research on Black migration has focused primarily on internal labour migration, exilic migration and the "brain drain" phenomenon of medical professionals. So far, little research has been done on the impact of international outward migration on the Black family system. This article addresses this gap, drawing on a larger qualitative project exploring the impact of South African emigration on elderly family members staying behind. The findings highlight the significance of close relational ties in the Black South African family system. Familial separation through emigration brings feelings of loss and apprehension for the wellbeing of family members living abroad, including potential racism in destination countries. Migrants abroad highlighted the value of family and of maintaining a Black South African identity, despite separation from the country of origin and the extended family. Significantly, migration is often perceived as a temporary state, in contrast to White South African counterparts. Given increased international migration, the results shed light on the interplay between racial identity and emigration, and the impact of international migration by Black South Africans on family that they leave behind.

South African International Migration and its Impact on Older Family Members.

In this article, we explore the impact of South African families' emigration on parents/grandparents who must renegotiate their lives in their loved ones' physical absence. We adopted a transnational perspective in a bigger qualitative project to consider both sides of the migratory spectrum. Here we focus on elderly family members who remain behind-a group largely neglected in prior research. Our findings illustrate the complex emotions and relational changes experienced by elderly people whose families emigrate. New technologies bridge distances, allowing new ways to connect and take care of each other, and of re-imagining transnational relationships and what constitutes family life, but these bridges cannot negate the loss experienced by those remaining. People have to make sense of the emigration and forge new relational bonds with remaining family members. Our findings stress grandparents' meaningful role in a family system and highlight some gendered and racial differences in families' experiences.

En este artículo analizamos el efecto de la emigración de familias sudafricanas en los padres/abuelos que deben renegociar sus vidas ante la ausencia física de sus seres queridos. Nosotros adoptamos una perspectiva transnacional en un proyecto cualitativo más grande para tener en cuenta ambos lados del espectro migratorio. Aquí nos centramos en los integrantes ancianos de la familia que se quedan, un grupo en gran parte abandonado en investigaciones previas. Nuestros hallazgos ilustran las emociones complejas y los cambios relacionales sufridos por los ancianos cuyas familias emigran. Las nuevas tecnologías tienden puentes y acortan distancias, ya que permiten nuevas maneras de conectarse, de cuidarse mutuamente y de reinventar las relaciones transnacionales y lo que constituye la vida familiar, pero estos puentes no pueden anular la pérdida sufrida por los que se quedan. Las personas tienen que dar sentido a la emigración y forjar nuevos lazos relacionales con los familiares que se quedan. Nuestros resultados acentúan el papel significativo de los abuelos en un sistema familiar y destacan algunas diferencias por género y raza en las experiencias de las familias.

Those easily forgotten: the impact of emigration on those left behind.

Much has been written about the experiences and stresses of those who emigrate. By contrast, little attention has been paid to the experiences of those who stay behind-family members and friends who for various reasons do not to join their loved ones in the destination country. In this article, I describe the experiences of some South Africans whose families and friends have emigrated. This study forms part of a larger research project focusing on the impact of emigration on South African family life. Twenty-one participants were interviewed by means of a semistructured interview at least 6 months after one or more family member(s) and/or friend(s) left South Africa, to explore participants' experiences around their loved ones' emigration. A thematic analysis of the data reveals that those left behind experience various emotions, ranging from emotional ambivalence to anger and distress. Emigration is mostly experienced as a vast loss, almost akin to a "death," bringing about significant changes in social networks and relationships. The therapeutic significance of the findings for those working with emigrant families is also explored.