Paper short abstract:

This paper examines gendered processes of inter-generational transfer via engagement with real-life portraits of Latin American migrant fathers and their sons. Specifically it explores how far psychosocial transfers can be taken up and used as assets to exit poverty and acheive human wellbeing.

Paper long abstract:

This paper examines gendered processes of inter-generational transfer via engagement with real-life portraits of Latin American migrant fathers and their sons. It incorporates understandings of intergenerational transmission (IGT) that are not solely related to the transfer for material goods but include psychosocial assets (such as norms and beliefs that are socially constructed and central to the lives that people value) reflecting a more holistic concept of human-centered development. Specifically it explores how far tensions in migrant father and son relationships (linked to periods of separation as well as repartnering in the host country contexts) can be overcome in order that psychosocial transfers can be taken up by sons and converted into assets or competencies. Finally, it deepens understanding of how far gendered ideologies and practices continue to echo across the generations, influencing the decisions taken by migrant fathers and their sons at critical life junctures and their prospects for exiting poverty and achieving human wellbeing outcomes.