Cultivation, compensation and indulgence: Transnational short-term returns to Poland across three family generations

Abstract

Abstract The paper discusses the short-term visits to the home country among Polish female migrants residing in the United Kingdom and Norway. Grounded in the theoretical approaches of transnationalism, as well as return and visiting friends and relatives (VFR) mobility, it analyzes empirical material from in-depth interviews. The main argument points to the feelings of ambivalence that accompany the maintenance of family ties during stays in Poland. In addition, it categorizes examples of intergenerational compensatory, cultivation, and indulgent family practices. In reviewing the intra-European setting of transnational familyhood, the paper addresses the significance of the particular Central and Eastern European context.