Birds of a Feather in transnational flight: Return, Gender and Mobility-Immobility Strategies Between Ecuador and Spain

Abstract

This article looks beyond the explanation of returning Ecuadorian migrants in the light of the impact of Spain’s economic crisis, analysing return within the framework of the articulation of mobility and immobility strategies and the social and cultural gendered and inter-generational relations of transnational households. It addresses the way in which female migration and return are closely linked to women’s role as carers, whilst male return is frequently conditioned by crises of masculinity, stemming from the loss of their role as ‘breadwinners’. The article concludes that return, must not merely be considered a journey back, but rather as a continuum of mobility, framed by gender ideologies regarding the role of men and women, as well as by inter-generational strategies that are activated within the transnational space. The article is based on the empirical data obtained from a multi-sited fieldwork carried out in Spain and Ecuador with Ecuadorian transnational families.