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Gendered Mobilities and Work in Europe is an interdisciplinary collection of papers that, together, analyse the gendered aspects of migration and the labour market in Europe. The empirical research presented in this special issue of JEMS incorporates labour market sectors designated as both high- and low-skilled and points to shifting gendered employment opportunities and working conditions for contemporary labour migrants. The papers demonstrate how both national and regional policy frameworks intersect with specific employment sectors and different typologies of migration to produce varied outcomes for male and female labour migrants even when employed in the same sector. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Despite being the dominant mode of legal entry for the past two decades in European Union states, the study of family migration has been marginalised theoretically, methodologically and empirically. In settler societies, family migration has been interpreted more loosely and has been encouraged. The definition of who constitutes the family is determined by the state and is generally interpreted in highly restrictive terms in EU states. Family-related migration has been neglected because of the emphasis in migration studies on the individual, a heavily economic focus, and an association with female migration based on the dichotomy of male producer and female reproducer. In policy terms it is treated as a secondary form of migration subordinate to and divorced from labour markets. However since the late 1980s family-related migrations have become the subject of scholarly research, especially North American and Asian-Pacific, using network analysis and, more recently, concepts of transnationalism. In this paper I firstly explore the reasons for the relative neglect of family-linked migration in European research which has focused on the integration of migrant families in receiving societies and the legal and policy conditions of family reunification. Secondly, I examine some of the implications of changing family-led migration, especially at key moments and stages of the lifecourse, and the increasing restrictions imposed on this form of migration, highlighting the continuing role of the nation-state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study applies unique data on three-generation migrant and non-migrant lineages to assess how assimilation and intergenerational transmission theories hold up for attitudes on gender equality in the context of Turkey–Europe migration. Information on migration histories of families and gender equality attitudes is collected for over 800 families. Based on those data assimilation and retention theories and theories on intergenerational transmission as a means to reproduce cultural attitudes among migrant families are tested from a dissimilation-from-origin perspective: how do migrants and their descendants differ from non-migrants from the same area of origin. The results of this study support concepts that focus on context- and path-dependency: segmented assimilation is shown in the form that the more traditional migrants who move back to Turkey have children with more traditional views than comparable people without migrant ancestors (retention). At the same time, among lineages that settle in Europe, migration seems to speed up the assimilation process of becoming more supportive of gender equality. Moreover, the youth that grew up in Europe is hardly influenced by the parents' attitudes, whereas the ones growing up in Turkey are. This supports the idea of migration being a transmission belt for intergenerational transmission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This introduction to the special issue on 'Family dynamics in transnational African migration to Europe' outlines a number of important themes in contemporary migration of sub-Saharan African migrants to Europe. This special issue focuses on gender and intergenerational ties and tensions within families. The authors argue that the study of family dynamics in contemporary migration from Africa to Europe needs to be put in a historical perspective, and linked to discussions about emerging African Diasporas and their impact on transnational relationships. In addition, they point to the fluidity of migration, the different migration trajectories, the difficulties of labelling and categorizing migrants, and emphasize the everyday negotiations, struggles, and decision-making processes of people on the move. In doing so the authors intend to contribute to the debate about the non-economic aspects of contemporary African migration to Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]