Women, Migration, and Aging in the Americas. Analyzing Dependence and Autonomy in Old Age, London, Routledge, 2023 (192 pages)

Abstract: 

Women, Migration, and Aging in the Americas analyzes how immigrant women have coped with life after they settled in the Americas, from the 19th–21st centuries. It explores their empowerment processes, the type of gender inequalities they faced, and their destinies as they aged; whether they resided in the destination country throughout their lives or returned to their home country. The book shows that many immigrant women were able to secure their well-being autonomously as they aged, after they retired, and/or when they became widows. The authors offer new research material on immigrant women’s aging experiences, their innovative conclusions contrasting with the historiography that has often argued that aging immigrant women were dependent upon their husbands and later their children (especially their daughters) for survival. They consider inter- and intra-continental female migration and compare immigrant women’s aging experiences, analyzing diverse groups who migrated within the Americas or from other continents (Europe and Africa in particular) to the Americas. Each chapter analyzes the issue using different sources, methods, and approaches to measure the correlation between these women’s geographical, cultural, ethnic, and social backgrounds and their life experiences as women, wives, mothers, and aging widows. The authors show that many of the immigrant women assumed power, responsibilities, autonomy, and perhaps independence within the household, and therefore could make decisions for themselves and their families. This book will be of interest to researchers, scholars, and graduate students of migration studies, gender studies, women’s studies, care studies, history, sociology, and social anthropology.


Marie-Pierre Arrizabalaga is Professor of American Studies at the Institute of International Studies and Modern Languages of CY Cergy Paris Université, France, and member of AGORA research group.

 

TABLE OF CONTENT / SOMMAIRE

• 1 Introduction MARIE-PIERRE ARRIZABALAGA PART I: Women, Households, and Aging
• 2 French Immigrant Women and Their Aging Experiences in California, 1880–1940MARIE-PIERRE ARRIZABALAGA3 Aging French-Canadian Immigrant Women in the U.S. in 1910: North American Comparative Perspectives. MARIE-PIERRE ARRIZABALAGA
• 3 Aging French-Canadian Immigrant Women in the U.S. in 1910: North American Comparative Perspectives. DANIELLE GAUVREAU AND MARIE-ÈVE HARTON
• 4 The Grandmother Exception: The Role of Family Relationships in the History of U.S. Immigration Policy and Practice. SUZANNE M. SINKE
• 5 Open or Closed Horizons? Personal Accounts on the Emigration/Transfer of Basque Nuns to the Americas. ÓSCAR ÁLVAREZ-GILA
• 6 Women and War: Aging, Migration, and Violence in the Mexico–U.S. Borderlands. VERÓNICA CASTILLO-MUÑOZ
• 7 From Providing Care to Requiring Care: The Impact of Migration on the Elderly in Paraguay. NURIA PENA AND MARCELA CERRUTTI 
• 8 The Importance of Integration in the Life Stories of Immigrant Women From Piaxtla, Mexico, Who Live in the United States. EMILIO MACEDA
• 9 Peule Female Migration to the Americas and Their Return to Guinea in Old Age: Evolution of Gender Relations in the Mamou Region. MAMADOU SOUNOUSSY DIALLO