Gone with the Wind? : Immigrant Women and Transnational Everyday Life in Finland

Increased mass migration, as a result of economic hardship, natural disasters and wars, forces many people to arrive on the shores of cultures very different from those they left. How do they manage the legacy of the past and the challenges of their new everyday life? This is a study of immigrant women living in transnational families that act and communicate across national borders on a near-daily basis. The research was carried out amongst immigrant women who were currently living in Finland. The research asks how transnational everyday life is constructed. As everyday life, due to its mundane nature, is difficult to operationalise for research purposes, mixed data collection methods were needed to capture the passing moments that easily become invisible. Thus, the data were obtained from photographic diaries (459 photographs) taken by the research participants themselves. Additionally, stimulated recall discussions, structured questionnaires and participant observation notes were used to complement the photographic data. A tool for analysing the activities devealed in the data was created on the assumption that a family is an active unit that accommodates the current situation in which it is embedded. Everyday life activities were analysed emphasizing social, modal and spatial dimensions. Important daily moments were placed on a continuum: for me , for immediate others and with immediate others . They portrayed everyday routines and exceptions to it. The data matrix was developed as part of this study. The spatial dimensions formed seven units of activity settings: space for friendship, food, resting, childhood, caring, space to learn and an orderly space. Attention was also paid to the accommodative nature of activities; how women maintain traditions and adapt to Finnish life or re-create new activity patterns. Women s narrations revealed the importance of everyday life. The transnational chain of women across generations and countries, comprised of the daughters, mothers and grandmothers was important. The women showed the need for information technology in their transnational lives. They had an active relationship to religion; the denial or importance of it was obvious. Also arranging one s life in Finnish society was central to their narrations. The analysis exposed everyday activities, showed the importance of social networks and the uniqueness of each woman and family. It revealed everyday life in a structured way. The method of analysis that evolved in this study together with the research findings are of potential use to professionals, allowing the targeting of interventions to improve the everyday lives of immigrants.

Studio portrait of Werner and Hans Rath; Mannheim Portraits Family

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Family portrait including Elsa Fleissig nee Loewenthal, August Fleissig, Lena Loewenthal, Hans Frankenbach and Justin Loewenthal Portraits Family

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Walther Simon of Hamburg with his wife and daughter Ursula outdoors; Schenectady, New York Portraits Family

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Studio portrait of unidentified woman with three young boys Portraits Family

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Portrait of Molling and Sanger (Loewy) families on vacation; Marienbad Portraits Family

Therese Molling (1890-1981) is in back row in white dress, to her left is her mother Henny Molling nee Meyerhof (1864-1934), her husband (and Therese's father) Adolf Molling (1865-1921) is posing on the grass in front.

Elizabeth Engel nee Benjamin-Rasmussen with her daughter Dorel Hall nee Engel in Elizabeth's home; Silver Springs, Maryland Portraits Family

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Reproduction of family tree, possibly the Gottschalk Stammbaum from the home of Henriette Gottschalk nee Rothschild Genealogy

Others remember the Gottschalk Stammbaum from the home of Henriette Gottschalk nee Rothschild as having only one tree

John and Ursula Schlosstein nee Gottschalk with their infant son Ralph. portraits family

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Therese Godshaw's nee Molling 70th birthday party at the Krakauer home; Boston Portraits Family

Left to right behind table: John Krakauer, Donald, Michael and Robert Godshaw (Children of Hal and Anne), Grandma Therese Godshaw nee Molling, Julius Pick (Grandfather of Robert, Michael and Donald). In front of table: Wendy and Gerry Godshaw (children of Kurt and Edith.

Outdoor family portrait after the memorial services for Therese Godshaw nee Molling at Hal Godshaws house; Argonne Drive, Kenmore, New York.

Front row from left to right: Robert Godshaw, Wendy Godshaw, Rosel Pick (Anne Godshaw's mother), Debbie Godshaw born Mariner, Hal Godshaaw, Francis Schlosstein; 2nd row from left to right: David Dysert, Mickey Sloan born McMath, Edith Godshaw nee Osterer, baby (probably Gary Godshaw), Anne Godshaw born Pick, Julius Pick (Anne's father), Ursula Schlosstein born Gottschalk, Elizabeth Krakauer nee Gottschalk, Michael Godshaw; back row from left to right: Charles (Karl-Hermann Solomon) Sloan, Gerald Godshaw (partially hidden), unknown (probably Peter Godshaw), Kurt Godshaw, John Krakauer, Donald Godshaw, Tom Krakauer, Ralph Schlosstein, John Schlosstein.

Outdoor family portrait after the memorial services for Therese Godshaw nee Molling at Hal Godshaws house; Argonne Drive, Kenmore, New York.

Front row from left to right: Robert Godshaw, Wendy Godshaw, Rosel Pick (Anne Godshaw's mother), Debbie Godshaw born Mariner, Hal Godshaaw, Francis Schlosstein; 2nd row from left to right: David Dysert, Mickey Sloan born McMath, Edith Godshaw nee Osterer, baby (probably Gary Godshaw), Anne Godshaw born Pick, Julius Pick (Anne's father), Ursula Schlosstein born Gottschalk, Elizabeth Krakauer nee Gottschalk, Michael Godshaw; back row from left to right: Charlie Sloan, Gerald Godshaw (partially hidden), unknown, Kurt Godshaw, John Krakauer, Donald Godshaw, Tom Krakauer, Ralph Schlosstein, John Schlosstein.

Portrait of Elly Goldschmidt and her children Ilse and Robert. Portraits Family

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Portrait of Joseph and his sister Elly Schoenbeck; Cologne, Germany. Portraits family

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Ilse and Robert Goldschmidt with their parents Albert Goldschmidt and Elly nee Schoenbeck grandfather Albert Schoenbeck and great grandmother Sophie Schoenbeck nee Mahler. Portraits Family

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