Localizing masculinities in the global care chains: experiences of migrant men in Spain and Ecuador

Abstract

This paper seeks to explore the experiences of migrant men in the global care chain framework in order to move away from the female-dominated paradigm, towards one that acknowledges masculinities as a constitute element in the reconfiguration of gender relations throughout the migratory process between Global South and North. Specifically, it addresses the construction of masculinities in the process of the globalization of reproductive labour, including domestic work, transnational parenting and family reunification. Drawing on mixed and multi-local methods, this research examines how the provision of paid and unpaid domestic work and caring leads to new forms of inequality in the working and family lives of migrant men in Spain and in Ecuador. Exploring the link between migration, masculinities and care, this study highlights that while exerting masculine privilege in the construction of the transnational family and in the country of origin, migrant men nevertheless experience marginality in the Spanish labour market. In this sense, this paper offers to bring immigrant men back into the frame, not as androcentric agents, but as actors with gendered experiences marked by both masculine privilege and social marginality. One of the central contributions of this article is to show how hierarchical structures within masculinity intersect to build uneven gendered global workers and families across nation states.

Keywords:

• Care crisis
• domestic work
• global care chain
• transnational fathering
• work-life balance

Acknowledgements

I wish to thank my PhD supervisors Drs. McIlwaine and Kershen of the departments of Geography, and Politics and International Relations at Queen Mary, University of London. During fieldwork I thank all the people who shared their experiences of migration and their fears, hopes, disappointments and achievements in Spain and Ecuador. Also, I wish to thank the thought provoking comments from the reviewers of Gender, Place and Culture.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Cristen Dávalos

Cristen Dávalos is Chair and Assistant Professor of International Relations in the School of Social Sciences and Humanities at the San Francisco University in Quito, Ecuador. She received her PhD in the School of Politics and International Relations, and the School of Geography from Queen Mary, University of London. Her research focuses on the intersections of social development, international migration, mobility and gender equality in Latin America. She currently leads research projects on gender and informal transit provision in the city of Quito, gender based violence in the Galapagos Islands, and the migration of Venezuelans in Ecuador.