The role of materiality in transnational family relationships of Czech migrants in Sweden

The aim of this thesis is to analyze the transnational family relationships of Czech pre-1989 political émigrés and post-1989 love / economic migrants in Sweden and their homeland-based relatives, by looking at the practices via which these relationships are initiated and maintained and the role of materiality in these practices. The theoretical framework builds on the notion of “transnationalism from below ” as a perspective which intersects migration and family studies, and posits the focus on material culture as an effective analytical tool. After setting the research in the context of Czech and Czechoslovak migration in the 20 th century, qualitative analysis of life history narratives and ethnographic interviews is used to investigate the topic in question. Considering the influence of historical and individual factors, the study identifies the parallels and divergences in the two migrant groups ’ practices of long-distance communication and mutual visits and in their attitudes to the role of materiality in transnational family relationships. The thesis concludes by stating that in contrast to the pre