Calling family : digital technologies and the making of transnational care collectives / Tanja Ahlin.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 171-187) and index.

PART I: MAPPING LANDSCAPES -- 1 Enacting Care -- 2 Crafting the Field -- 3 Struggling with Abandonment -- PART II: CARING THROUGH TRANSNATIONAL – COLLECTIVES -- 4 Calling Frequently -- 5 Shifting Duties -- 6 Doing Health -- Conclusion

"How do digital technologies shape how people care for each other and, through that, who they are? This is a particularly pertinent question today, as technological innovation is on the rise while increasing migration is introducing vast distances among family members. The situation has been additionally complicated by the Covid-19 pandemic and the requirements of physical distancing, especially for the most vulnerable - older adults. Based on ethnographic fieldwork with families of migrating nurses from Kerala, India, Calling Family explores how digital technologies shape elder care when adult children and their aging parents live far apart. Coming from a country in which appropriate elder care is closely associated with co-residence, these families tinker with smartphones and social media to establish what care at a distance could be and how it should be done to be considered good. Through the notion of transnational care collectives, this book uncovers the subtle workings of digital technologies on care across countries and continents when being physically together is not feasible. Calling Families is an excellent entry point into a better understanding of technological relationality which can only be expected to further intensify in the future"-- Provided by publisher.