6 Transnational dynamics of family reunification: reassembling social work with refugees in Belgium
-
Pascal Debruyne
Abstract
How do transnational dynamics of family reunification impact social work? This chapter focuses on the transnational dynamics of family reunification. We specifically look at the lifeworld-dynamics of family relations beyond boundaries and parenting at a distance, but also at the ways in which both families and social workers deal with politically fabricated institutional and legal boundaries. Based on 30 in-depth interviews with refugee families from Afghanistan, Eritrea, Iraq, Palestine, Somalia and Syria as well as 35 in-depth interviews with (in)formal social workers in Belgium, we analyse the impact of separation and reunification on family dynamics before, during and after the application for family reunification. We also explore how Belgian social workers deal with transnational issues pertaining to family reunification. Accompanying families throughout processes of family reunification challenges social workers to transcend the boundaries that underpin their work as agents within the national welfare state. Relationships between subjects of social work are increasingly exceeding state boundaries and moving ‘in between’ borders. Consequently, we argue that social work needs to be reassembled to fit this transnational reality and position itself within a transnational assemblage of power.
Abstract
How do transnational dynamics of family reunification impact social work? This chapter focuses on the transnational dynamics of family reunification. We specifically look at the lifeworld-dynamics of family relations beyond boundaries and parenting at a distance, but also at the ways in which both families and social workers deal with politically fabricated institutional and legal boundaries. Based on 30 in-depth interviews with refugee families from Afghanistan, Eritrea, Iraq, Palestine, Somalia and Syria as well as 35 in-depth interviews with (in)formal social workers in Belgium, we analyse the impact of separation and reunification on family dynamics before, during and after the application for family reunification. We also explore how Belgian social workers deal with transnational issues pertaining to family reunification. Accompanying families throughout processes of family reunification challenges social workers to transcend the boundaries that underpin their work as agents within the national welfare state. Relationships between subjects of social work are increasingly exceeding state boundaries and moving ‘in between’ borders. Consequently, we argue that social work needs to be reassembled to fit this transnational reality and position itself within a transnational assemblage of power.
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents vii
- List of figures ix
- Notes on contributors x
- Introduction 1
- The contribution of social work research to promote migration and asylum policies in Europe 5
- Participatory art in social work: from humanitarianism to humanisation of people on the move 25
- Grasping at straws: social work in reception and identification centres in Greece 47
- Migrant girls’ experiences of integration and social care in Sweden 64
- “Come to my house!”: Homing practices of children in Swiss asylum camps 80
- Transnational dynamics of family reunification: reassembling social work with refugees in Belgium 95
- Open or closed doors? Accessibility of Italian social work organisations towards ethnic minorities 112
- Refugee children and families in the Republic of Ireland: the response of social work 126
- Sense of place, migrant integration and social work 146
- “If not now, when?”: Reclaiming activism into social work education – the case of an intercultural student-academic project with refugees in the UK and Greece 161
- EU border migration policy and unaccompanied refugee minors in Greece: the example of Lesvos and Samos hotspots 177
- Epilogue: Time to listen, time to learn, time to challenge … because there is hope 198
- Index 201
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents vii
- List of figures ix
- Notes on contributors x
- Introduction 1
- The contribution of social work research to promote migration and asylum policies in Europe 5
- Participatory art in social work: from humanitarianism to humanisation of people on the move 25
- Grasping at straws: social work in reception and identification centres in Greece 47
- Migrant girls’ experiences of integration and social care in Sweden 64
- “Come to my house!”: Homing practices of children in Swiss asylum camps 80
- Transnational dynamics of family reunification: reassembling social work with refugees in Belgium 95
- Open or closed doors? Accessibility of Italian social work organisations towards ethnic minorities 112
- Refugee children and families in the Republic of Ireland: the response of social work 126
- Sense of place, migrant integration and social work 146
- “If not now, when?”: Reclaiming activism into social work education – the case of an intercultural student-academic project with refugees in the UK and Greece 161
- EU border migration policy and unaccompanied refugee minors in Greece: the example of Lesvos and Samos hotspots 177
- Epilogue: Time to listen, time to learn, time to challenge … because there is hope 198
- Index 201
