McQuaid, K orcid.org/0000-0003-4919-2958, Vanderbeck, RM orcid.org/0000-0003-0274-3505, Valentine, G et al. (2 more authors) (2019) 'An elephant cannot fail to carry its own ivory': Transgenerational ambivalence, infrastructure and sibling support practices in urban Uganda. Emotion, Space and Society, 32. 100537. ISSN 1755-4586
Abstract
This article examines how urban Ugandans navigate family support systems through a focus on the under-researched area of sibling care practices. We conceptualise such systems as transgenerational infrastructure to capture the complex flows, negotiations and dilemmas of both inter- and intra-generational relationships, orderings and power, situating family support practices within their spatial, structural and social contexts. Drawing on grounded narratives of lived experience collected in Jinja, Uganda, the article offers an alternative interpretation to what is commonly portrayed as a weakening of family support systems in sub-Saharan Africa. We develop a transgenerational ambivalence perspective which allows for a deeper understanding of the heterogeneity and fluidity of family support as an ethical practice replete with complex emotions and dilemmas shaped in the junctures between social norms, agency, resources and material conditions. Through focusing on working-age Ugandans, we demonstrate the potential for a transgenerational ambivalence approach to make visible contradictions at structural and subjective levels and focus greater attention on the importance of sibling relationships and birth order than is evident in the existing intergenerational literature. This can help researchers in the task of linking family dynamics to the growing precarity and uncertainties of life in the marginal socio-economic contexts of urban sub-Saharan Africa.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2018 Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an author produced version of a paper published in Emotion, Space and Society. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy |
Keywords: | Ambivalence; Infrastructure; Siblings; Care; Family support; Africa; Uganda |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Geography (Leeds) > SOG: Cities & Social Justice (Leeds) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number Arts & Humanities Research Council AHRC AH/K006215/1 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 01 Aug 2018 16:21 |
Last Modified: | 02 Feb 2020 01:38 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Elsevier |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.emospa.2018.07.009 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:133957 |
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