Elastic carework: the cost and contradictions of mobile caregiving in a transnational household

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the pivotal role of digital communication technologies in the provision of transnational caregiving among geographically separated family members. Particularly, it examines the consequences of mobile device use in facilitating the circulation and consumption of money and consumer goods among 21 Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) in Melbourne, Australia, and their left-behind family members in the Philippines. By deploying a mediated mobilities lens in analysing the data drawn upon in-depth interviews, photo elicitation, and field notetaking, I coin the term ‘elastic carework’ to articulate the contradictory outcomes of mobile caregiving at a distance as shaped by the entanglement of social structures and technological infrastructures. On the one hand, caregiving at a distance enables transnational family members to enact affective exchanges, fulfil obligations and cement intimate ties. On the other hand, it can also become a source of frustration and unsettling feelings, which are often dealt with personalised tactics. Ultimately, this paper provides a vantage point in re-thinking the performance, embodiment and negotiation of a family-based and networked caregiving at a distance in the age of global migration.

KEYWORDS:

• Transnational caregiving
• smartphones
• remittances
• consumer goods
• elastic carework
• tactics

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank the informants who shared their time and stories for this research project, paving the way for a critical stance on the provision of mobile care giving in a transnational context.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Earvin Charles Cabalquinto

Earvin Charles Cabalquinto is a Lecturer in Communication in the School of Communication and Creative Arts (SCCA) at Deakin University. He was a Visiting Scholar in the Centre for Mobilities Research (CeMoRe) at Lancaster University, United Kingdom in 2019. He is currently a member of the Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation. His research expertise lies at the intersections of digital media, mobilities and migration.