Time and Migration

Drawing on long-term fieldwork that follows people moving between the United States and Taiwan, this book examines how immigrants who have lived abroad for many years handle their needs as they age. It also considers how a life of migration reshapes the transitions that come later in life. The author introduces a concept he calls the "temporalities of migration" to explore how space, place and time work together. He shows how extended settlement in the United States, combined with changing conditions in the homeland, leads older migrants and returnees to rethink where they belong, rebuild close personal ties, and manage the opportunities and limits they face in both countries.

The book traces how the connection between migration and time affects the ways aging migrants reassess their relationships with their children, spouses, grandchildren, and community members. It also looks at how they reconsider their attachment to their original home and to the societies that host them.

The author's central claim is that aging is a worldwide concern and needs to be rethought within a context that crosses national boundaries.