Dillon Anna Marie, Ali Tabassim
Emirates College for Advanced Education, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Zayed University, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Front Sociol. 2024 Nov 13;9:1497479. doi: 10.3389/fsoc.2024.1497479. eCollection 2024.
This study delves into the lives of transnational families in the UAE, exploring their complex identities using a visual research approach known as the Collage Life Elicitation Technique (CLET). Both the topic and the methodology are framed within a theoretical lens of (understanding) with a view to further exploring the lives of transnational families in the context of a pragmatic phenomenology and within the setting of the UAE as a rentier state. The lives of families such as these are characterized by a cross-cultural lifestyle, high mobility and expected repatriation. This paper presents narratives of eight transnational families in the UAE as expressed by the mother of each family unit, and seeks to expand on how these mothers view the identity of their families as expatriates living in the UAE. Findings indicate that these families navigate an intricate world where they are neither entirely of their host country nor of their passport country. The family unit plays a pivotal role in these families' lives, acting as a bridge between their host culture and their home culture, serving as a nucleus for their evolving identities.
本研究深入探讨了阿联酋跨国家庭的生活,运用一种名为拼贴生活启发技术(CLET)的视觉研究方法来探究他们复杂的身份认同。该主题和方法都置于一种(理解的)理论视角框架内,旨在在务实现象学的背景下以及阿联酋作为租税型国家的环境中进一步探索跨国家庭的生活。这类家庭的生活具有跨文化生活方式、高流动性和预期回国等特点。本文呈现了阿联酋八个跨国家庭中每个家庭单元的母亲所表达的故事,并试图进一步阐述这些母亲如何看待她们作为居住在阿联酋的外籍家庭的身份认同。研究结果表明,这些家庭在一个错综复杂的世界中周旋,他们既不完全属于所在国,也不完全属于护照所属国。家庭单元在这些家庭的生活中起着关键作用,充当着他们所在文化与家乡文化之间的桥梁,成为他们不断演变的身份认同的核心。