Paper short abstract:

We argue in this presentation that multi-sitedness and multi-temporality are significant notions in studies of childhood and migration. We approach the theme from two case studies, one from the Finnish Russian borderland, and the other from the Finnish Somali diaspora.

Paper long abstract:

<b>Co-author: Helena Jerman, University of Helsinki</b></br>

Supporting the view on memory as a site for studying the dialectics of individual and social processes our presentations introduce some ethnographic examples of child migration as process in time and space. We argue that multisitedness and multitemporality are significant notions in studies of childhood and migration. We approach the theme from two case studies, one from the Finnish Russian borderland, and the other from the Finnish Somali diaspora.

Hautaniemi deals with "fugitive memories" among young Somali men in Helsinki. As children these men were circulated within wide transnational family networks during the 1990s and finally they landed in Finland. He will discuss the way young Somali men recall displacements and emplacements in their childhood, and in what sense they consider it a meaningful experience. Hautaniemi argues that what is perceived as a dramatic change in childhood may become a pivotal point of crucial identifications in later age as memories are communicated.

Exploring existential and practical consequences of care of children in a transnational context in the Finnish Russian borderland Jerman will consider the ways in which practices, persons and institutions are perceived at any given time. Her multitemporal approach considers how informants interpret or transmit related experiences. Jerman´s presentation suggests that elderly persons' narratives and present perceptions on displaced childhood disclose memories, i.e. traces. Arguably, these affect human lives as memories of the past become present tense, a transition in space and time occurs.