Love, friendship and family ties reach beyond borders. Through migration and mobility, people on the move build connections that spread across geographies and take a variety of forms. New relationships develop in receiving societies, weaving together migrant communities and binding locals and migrants. Children of migrant and mixed families grow up navigating two cultural universes, and often crafting their own. As these new ‘roots’ unfold, migration also shapes the ties with those in the place of origin and creates new forms of kinship solidarity and transnational care, from remittances to family group chats, reinventing the ways in which we ‘do family’. 

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At the same time, borders and distance are also agents of separation. Border and deportation policies that tear families and loved ones apart have become common in many countries. In other cases, borders arise and harden between family members, who adapt to and resist the new barriers in their daily lives, and navigate reunion after walls fall. 

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In this issue, we reflect on stories of connection and distance across borders, looking into the political and social dimensions of migration, family, love, and friendship. Some of our authors use academic lenses to shed light into the everyday lives of Syrian refugee mothers, or the implications of family reunification policies; others share with us a glimpse into their own family stories.

 

As this issue marks Routed Magazine's first anniversary, we want to thank all our writers once again for their generosity. Their voices are very much needed in today's world - and we couldn't ask for better fellow travellers along the route.

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