Transnational Parenting and the Emergence of ‘Diaspora Orphans’ in Zimbabwe
Abstract
This article explores the emergence of ‘diaspora orphans’ over the course of Zimbabwe’s crisis. The debates over this phenomenon reflect a range of real emotional and practical problems encountered by children and youth with parents abroad. But they also highlight the ambiguity of moral judgments of emigration and émigrés, and the crisis of expectation that assumptions of diaspora wealth have fostered within families and among those remaining behind. The negative stereotyping of ‘diaspora orphans’ reflects the moral discourse circulating within families, schools and society more broadly, which is revealing for the light it sheds on unfolding debates over changing parenting, gender, and extended family obligations as these have been challenged by crisis and mass exodus. The article furthers understanding of transnational parenting, particularly the perspectives of those who fulfil substitute parental caring roles for children left behind, and of the moral dimensions of debates over the role of money and material goods in intimate relationships of care for children. It adds a new strand to debates over African youths by focusing not on the problems created through entrapment by poverty, but on the emotional consequences of parents’ spatial mobility in middle class families where material resources may be ample. The article is based on interviews with adults looking after children and youths left behind (maids, siblings, grandparents and single parents), and the reflections of teachers and ‘diaspora orphans’ themselves.
Categories: Care
Other articles
Effect of Spirulina platensis Supplementation on Nutritional and Biochemical Parameters of Under Five Years Malnourished Children from an Orphanage in Douala, Cameroon
Malnutrition is the underlying cause of 50% of morbidity and mortality in the under-five age group. Its frequencies have…
Read moreBULLYING BEHAVIOR IN ORPHANAGE CHILDREN JUDGING FROM THE PSYCHOANALYTIC THERAPY APPROACH
Bullying behavior is a scourge that has not been completed at this time; bullying behavior is almost experienced by children…
Read moreChildhood Parental Loss and Adult Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Function
Background: Several decades of research link childhood parental loss with risk for major depression and other forms of psychopathology.…
Read moreEnhancing Psychosocial Support through Positive Youth Development: Narratives from Orphans in Zimbabwe
Due to the AIDS pandemic more and more youths are losing their parents. They are usually left with caregivers and in Zimbabwe…
Read more