Next GenSeM Dialogue on 19 September, 1pm (UK time), online:
Middle-aged migrants: exploring a new research agenda on gender and life course
Guest speaker: Dr Aija Lulle (University of Eastern Finland)
Discussant: Dr Megha Amrith (Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity)
Please register at the link here to receive the Zoom meeting details nearer the time. A link to the event will be provided to registered attendees closer to the time.
Abstract
Research voids concerning middle-aged migrants have fascinated me for a decade. Whilst I was initially interested in migrant work, homemaking and relationships, my research participants—Latvian migrant women and men who travel back and forth or live permanently in the UK—have recently taught me that the menopause 'revolution' is on the rise. In the UK, people march in parks, sign mandates, demonstrate at Parliament, and demand education and work policies to raise awareness among various groups and mobilize all those experiencing menopausal symptoms. In Finland, where I also conduct my study, research participants have recently begun referring to the ‘tectonic changes’ they undergo, though without using medicalized terms. However, in Latvia, where these research participants originate, menopause remains largely silenced. This diversity points to varied geographies of a crucial gendered process that middle-aged migrants encounter. In this presentation, I aim to illuminate how emancipation (and new divisions) arises in the life courses of migrants and non-migrants. I argue that a transnational diversity lens is fundamental in understanding how social change around midlife, particularly menopausing, happens and how this change can increase gender and age equity. By examining the transnational, national, and local scales of lived experiences of mobility, gender, ethnicity, (dis)ability, and class diversity, I will scrutinize how awareness may lead to changes in practices for diverse people and how awareness travels across the borders as social remittances. Subsequently, I will explore how we can forge a new research agenda focused on embodiment, homes, work, relationships, and future ageing of a strategic cohort of migrants whose life courses have been largely overlooked.
Bios
Dr Aija Lulle is Associate Professor at the University of Eastern Finland and Guest Professor at Riga Stradiņš University in Latvia. Her newest research on menopausing, is funded by Research Council of Finland. In particular, she focuses on the power of small transnational communities to redefine and challenge ageism, sexism, racism and (dis)ability in midlife.
Dr Megha Amrith leads the Max Planck Research Group ‘Aging in a Time of Mobility’ at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity in Göttingen, Germany. Her research interests are on care, migrant labour, ageing, transnational families, and wellbeing. Her most recent volume (co-edited with V. Sakti and D. Sampaio) is entitled Aspiring in Later Life: Movements Across Time, Space, and Generations. She is Co-Editor-in-Chief of the journal Global Networks.