Understanding Migrant Familyhood through a Relational Spatio-Temporal Framework: Cross-Border Families Navigating Im/Mobilities before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Abstract
Despite growing attention to relationality in sociological research, few studies have explored its application in the cross-border migration context, particularly the interplay between relationality and spatio-temporal dimensions in conditioning migrant im/mobilities and familyhood. This article proposes a relational spatio-temporal framework to uncover how relationality shapes the ways cross-border families navigate spatial and temporal im/mobilities within the limits and opportunities at the macro-, meso- and micro-levels. The advantages of the framework are illustrated using the case of cross-border families between Mainland China and Hong Kong. Based on interviews and ethnographic data from 146 parents and 22 children, four scenarios are presented to illuminate how cross-border families strategically relativise spatio-temporal im/mobilities of each member to offset, compensate, substitute and overcome impacts brought about by the constraints at multiple levels before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings reveal the prominent role of relationality in shaping mobility patterns, migration decisions and personal biographies.
Metadata is indexed. Open-access discovery has not completed for this record yet.
No local PDF is available.
GROBID Extracted text; discontinued.
This text is generated from TEI extraction for accessibility, search, and TTS. Formulas, tables, figures, page layout, and references may not perfectly match the original PDF.
No accessible text representation is available. The text extraction service has been discontinued for the time being. If you require this service, for accessibility or any other reason, please submit an issue/request on this page.
Metadata
Issues
No public issues have been filed for this DOI.
Submit an issue
Record history
| When | Event | Field | Old | New |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-06-18 19:37:53.011249+00:00 | identifier_assigned | DSEID | DSEID-001-5742817 |