“Is Granny Going Back into the Computer?”: Visits and the Familial Politics of Seeing and Being Seen in South African Transnational Families

ABSTRACT

Migration is an increasingly common feature of life globally. This article discusses visits in South African transnational families of diverse origins, exploring the importance and meaning of physical co-presence by examining the role of visits in delivering mutual ‘visibility’ – the ability to see and be seen – when family members meet in person. The data come from a qualitative project exploring South African transnational family relationships, and particularly, differences between the experiences of those who migrate and of those left behind. ‘Outward’, ‘return’ and ‘reunion’ visits are considered. One element visits had in common was excitement linked to the planning of the visit and actual visit, but there was also some ambivalence and underlying sadness, because visits provide only a temporary experience of physical co-presence. The multiple meanings attached to visits have implications for how family and care relationships are understood in the contemporary globalised world. Future research should consider the complexities of relationships and care through the transnational family lifecycle.

KEYWORDS:

• Transnational migration
• communication technology
• visits
• co-presence
• grandparents

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 The use of ‘racial’ terminology in South Africa, as elsewhere, is problematic and political (Jansen and Walters, 2020). We make no claim for the scientific validity of the categories, but acknowledge that they have social meaning in contemporary South Africa, and are still used in current legislation. In South Africa, the term ‘Coloured’ refers to a group of people of diverse origin, for most of whom Afrikaans is their home language; ‘Black’ refers to native speakers of indigenous African languages such as isiZulu and isiXhosa, ‘White’ refers to people who claim European settler ancestry. The terms are not precise, and they are claimed and disclaimed in various ways, but reflect fractures in South African society.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by National Research Foundation of South Africa: [grant number HSD180420323178].

Notes on contributors

Maria Marchetti-Mercer

Maria Marchetti-Mercer is a clinical psychologist and professor of Psychology in the School of Human and Community Development at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (South Africa). She has been involved in the training of professional psychologists for nearly 30 years and has a special interest in family therapy. She is a C1 rated National Research Foundation scientist and her research focuses on the impact of emigration on South African families. Her most current project is a NRF funded project focusing on the role of technology in maintaining family connections and relationships in Africa.

Leslie Swartz

Leslie Swartz is a clinical psychologist and professor of Psychology at Stellenbosch University, and the editor-in-chief of the South African Journal of Science. His work focusses on disability rights and mental health in southern Africa; current projects include a study on migration and access to mental health care in South Africa. He has received a number of awards for his work including the Gold Medal for Science for Society from the Academy of Science of South Africa. His most recent book, How I lost my mother (Wits University Press 2021), a memoir dealing with issues of care, has received considerable acclaim.

Loretta Baldassar

Loretta Baldassar is Professor in the Discipline Group of Anthropology and Sociology at The University of Western Australia and Director of the UWA Social Care and Ageing (SAGE) Living Lab. Her research and teaching areas include migration, transnational families, ageing across the life course, and Australian society. Loretta is Vice President of the International Sociological Association, Migration Research Committee (31) and a Regional Editor for the leading journal Global Networks. Her SAGE research team has expertise in social inclusion and marginalised communities, with particular interest in digital citizenship and social technology development and co-design methodologies. The SAGE team collaborates on projects, consultancies and evaluations with government, service providers and community groups. Professor Baldassar has successfully supported 5 international postdoctoral Fellowships, supervised over 30 doctoral students, 25 honours students, and several student internships. Professor Baldassar was recently named one of the top 30 Australian researchers in the Social Sciences, and Research Field Leader in Human Migration (The Australian, 23 September 2020).