Families on the move – Latin American perspectives

This introduction to the Special Issue ‘Families on the Move – Latin American Perspectives’ explores the intersections of family life and migration within and toward Latin America. While existing scholarship has focused predominantly on migrant and transnational families in Europe and North America due to language barriers and epistemic exclusions, this Special Issue brings critical attention to the dynamics of intra-regional and South – South migration. Latin America presents a unique context for theorising family-related migration. This is due to factors such as porous borders, flexible and intergenerational care arrangements, heightened economic precarity in countries of origin and settlement, enduring colonial legacies, and migration policies that blend progressive legislation with restrictive implementation and practice. Drawing on theoretical contributions from scholars working on the region and literature written in English, Spanish, and Portuguese, this issue advances the international literature along three key dimensions: (1) rethinking binary notions of separation and reunification by highlighting fluid forms of family life that have movement and transit at their core; (2) examining how progressive policies alone cannot guarantee the right to family life, especially in the face of economic precarity and implementation gaps; and (3) interrogating how colonial, racial, and gendered legacies shape perceptions of family and care. By centreing on Latin America, this Special Issue fills a critical gap in migration literature while also challenging essentialised notions of ‘the South’, demonstrating that migrant families’ experiences are diverse, intersectional, and profoundly shaped by the specific socio-historical conditions of each local context.