Intergenerational Intimacies and Mobilities in Transnational Families: The Experiences of Japanese-Filipino Children

Abstract: 

How do children born of international marriage families narrate their relational lives over time? Celero's talk examines Japanese-Filipinos’ care labor in maintaining transnational household and intergenerational relations, and the entanglement of their subjective im/mobilities with those of their Filipino mothers in Japan as well as extended kin in the Philippines. This presentation is based on the chapter she contributed to the upcoming book, “Tangled Mobilities: Places, Affects, and Personhood across Social Spheres in Asian Migration”, edited by Asuncion Fresnoza-Flot and Gracia Liu-Farrer and published by Bergahn.  The talk will also briefly reflect on the impact of the current COVID-19 pandemic on intergenerational mobility opportunities and relationships of Japanese-Filipino children, focusing on issues of exchanging care and support within transnational families.

Speaker: 

Jocelyn O. Celero is currently Associate Professor and Coordinator of the Japan Studies Program at the Asian Center, University of the Philippines-Diliman. She teaches courses on Japanese society, culture, politics and economy. She obtained her PhD in International Studies at Waseda University in 2016. She has published on migration and transnationality of Filipino migrants and Japanese-Filipinos. Since 2019, she has served as Consultant/Focal Person for UP-CIFAL Philippines.