Living together again : families surviving Italian immigration policies

In this article we provide an understanding of the challenges that immigrants have to face to relocate their nuclear families abroad. We will show that immigrants are often forced to leave their dependent relatives behind for much longer than expected, and that, despite their efforts to maintain intimacy at distance, the transnational managing of remittances and care entails certain risks. Both the separation experienced and the living conditions that reunited members face in Italy can make reunification itself a very sensitive moment in the life-course of these families, since the process of adaptation to the receiving society leads relatives to reshape and renegotiate their respective family roles and responsibilities. We are going to highlight how the availability of extended ties can represent a concrete form of support for many immigrant couples and lone mothers both during the separation and in their struggle to reunite their relatives, as well as after the reunification has taken place.