Asoc. Prof. Aija Lulle Participates in Largest European Geography Conference

On 31 August 2022, Aija Lulle, lead researcher on the (Re)moving Ties project, participated in the largest European geography conference "Families and 'privileged' work mobilities: conflicts, disruptions, connections and recovery", organised by the Royal Geographical Society.

As part of the conference, the researcher organised a panel and gave the presentation "Mobile lives, mobile wives? Exploring stories of spouses".

Conference panel

Families and ‘privileged ’work mobilities: conflicts, disruptions, connections and recovery

Session abstract 

This session (re)examines the relationship between family ties and transnational work migration by focusing on the movements of relatively privileged groups. Relatively privileged migrants are often associated with an ease of mobility because they are considered “highly skilled” and, as such, “desirable” workers in the contemporary knowledge economy. However, accounts of the ease of movement are contested by accounts of migration that consider the wider influence of the family.    

Our session invites an investigation into the consequences and lived realities of family ties in transnational work migrations.  Such groups may include academics, IT professionals, employees in multinational corporations, diplomats, military personnel, those working for charities and NGOs, students and others. Pandemic further disrupted work and home relations, and people introduced new ways of recovering balance between work and family across borders. To examine the tension between the institutional push towards transnational mobility and the importance of rootedness and family ties, this session invites presentations that explore among others, one or several of the following themes:

How do regular semi-permanent long-distance mobility interact with family ties?

• How do various institutional settings envision and treat family relations?
• How are the networks of relatedness influenced by different provisions (or lack of) for the employees’ family needs?

How mobility experienced by ‘accompanying’ spouses, children and other relatives?

Conference theses

Privileged lives, privileged wives? Exploring stories of mobile spouses

Aija Lulle

In this paper, I explore self-published narratives and diaries of spouses who can be characterised as privileged migrants or ‘anchors’ at home, waiting for their mobile spouses. I focus on three groups: spouses of academic researchers, military personnel and athletes. The data draws on digital ethnography carried out in 2022 (ongoing) and covers 2010 to 2022. I review stories of spouses through the lenses of mobile spouse literature, liberal migration regimes and writings on privilege. I argue that all these strands of literature reveal versions of the family, which fall short compared to versions of the family-hood by narrators themselves. I aim to shed light on processes of individualisation, which erode notions of care, family and intimacy.

More about the conference

More about (Re)moving Ties