Introduction

This article explores parenting in refugee families, employing the theoretical framework of Eliasian figurational sociology with a focus on established-outsider relations (Elias and Scotson, 1994). According to Elias, we see figurations as dynamic, interdependent patterns of social relationships including varying power balances for groups and individuals. This means for family figurations whose practices, decisions and fulfilment of ‘needs for emotional support, financial and practical resources, and social recognition’ are mutually dependent (Widmer, 2021: 61). Figurations concerning migration contexts, however, have not yet been sufficiently explored. Existing research shows that many migrant families maintain transnational relationships (Westphal et al, 2023 [2019]). For the first time, our research project Change and Dynamics of Family Generational Relationships in the Context of Flight and Asylum analyses Somali refugee parents and children in Germany from a figurational perspective. Overall, families in the context of (forced) migration using a figurational approach are still under-researched (exceptions: Schramm, 2021; Christ and Etzold, 2022; Rosenthal, 2022). Our empirical findings shed light on the dynamics of family figurations, navigating through dominant sociostructural power relations inherent in the experience of forced migration to Germany. The results highlight the remarkable human capacity to adapt and evolve, including the sense of establishing themselves. The study adopts a methodological approach combining qualitative reconstructive methods and migration and family-specific reflections and adaptations. In this article, first, we outline current studies on Somali refugee families, then set out our theoretical considerations. Following the methodological approach, we present our empirical results based on three case families and conclude with a discussion of the local and transnational figuration of the ‘arrival family’.

State of research: Somali refugee families

Previous studies on refugee families from African countries in European arrival destinations have underscored the significant impact of restrictive asylum policies on transnational families (Kraus et al, 2019; Shapiro and de Montgomery, 2020). One relevant restriction is that family members have little control over the reunification processes after separation, which Leinonen and Pellander (2020: 124) describe as a form of administrative violence. The long waiting times for asylum decisions and family reunification make it difficult for parents to maintain their roles as mother and father (Madziva, 2015). Akhigbe and Effevottu (2023: 106) show that parental absence in particular can be compensated for by the extended family, but these can be oftentimes ‘less committed to the development of the children, especially to their educational advancement’. Nevertheless, families can develop a resilient bond, which enables them to provide good transnational care and protection for the children left behind. Meanwhile, there is a growing body of literature on the transnationality of Somali families (Al-Sharmani et al, 2019; Ismail, 2020; 2023; Moret, 2018). Refugee movements in and out of Somalia have been occurring since the civil war at the end of the 1980s, but migration was a main channel for social mobility long before that (Gundel, 2002). As a result, family members have been migrating to different countries for decades. They seek transit and arrival options via resettlement, family reunification, humanitarian protection and asylum. People from Somalia are considered one of the largest and most dispersed diaspora groups in the world and are sometimes referred to as ‘global refugees’ (Hammond, 2014: 13). Families live fragmented lives in terms of time and space and are usually separated from each other involuntarily. By means of transnational practices such as digital communication or remittances, they maintain their ties over very long periods of separation. Other research points to the limited ability of Somali families to function in various places of arrival due to high emotional stress caused by the fragmentation (Boyle and Ali, 2009; Betancourt et al, 2015) as well as financial stress due to obligations to send money to relatives (Lindley, 2010). Al-Sharmani considers economic obligations as a permanent ‘juggling’ for extended and immediate family members (2007: 5). In fact, many operate collectively in affiliation with their extended family or clan to compensate for the absence of welfare and to provide protection and material security for their relatives worldwide. However, ‘forced transnationalism’ has exacerbated the precarious living conditions of refugees (Al-Ali et al, 2001). Racism and discrimination in arrival contexts can lead to cross-border mobility practices through repeated migration (Moret, 2018). Mobility represents normality for Somali refugees. Some have left their family or were sent by their parents to live with relatives when they were still children. Sending children to different households proves to be a collective care arrangement practice that is multilocal, transnational and intergenerational (Aden, in preparation). Experiences of being mobile within different family constellations, for different periods and in different places produce a very dynamic and flexible family life before, within and even after flight processes.

While Somali refugees are among the ‘top ten countries of origin’ in Germany’s asylum statistics and have an above-average chance of receiving protection (Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, 2024: 16), research is limited. As Hoehne and Scharrer show, they are a diverse group but with coherence in the form of shared ‘Somaliness’ (2023: 94), often being identified among themselves by clan membership or region of origin. They organise themselves according to these categories, additionally, by gender and order of arrival. Somalis in Germany ‘oscillate between various situations of exclusion and inclusion that frequently are intertwined and sometimes produce one another’ (Hoehne and Scharrer, 2023: 89). Aden and Westphal (2021) describe from the perspective of forced transnationalism the enormous constraints of building a local family while ultimately depending on an administrative-legal order for family reunification. Drawing on Elias’s theoretical perspective, this study investigates the scopes of action for family figurations.

Theoretical framework: family figurational analysis in established-outsider relations

Following figurational sociology, the focus is neither on the individual nor on society as a whole, but on the social relationships that people or groups form with each other and with their environments. For the analysis of family relationships, we consider the ‘structural dynamics of significant relations’ (Castrén and Ketokivi, 2015: 8). This also includes the essential aspect of the ‘changing power chances in the dynamic figurations of diverse and changing we-groups or groupings to which they belong’ (Rosenthal, 2022: 8). Elias and Scotson (1994) considered such a significant relation with the established-outsider model at a societal level. While they initially focused solely on social age, order of arrival or length of residence as central categories of power inequality between old-established residents and new immigrant groups, further studies suggested that the order of arrival can also be overridden in favour of ethnic, migrant, national or class categories (Hughes and Goodwin, 2016). Thus, established-outsider relations are not straightforward; rather, they are highly complex due to the shifting power dynamics between various individuals and groups. These dynamics are characterised by the ongoing processes of establishing (former) outsiders and the apprehension of established residents of becoming outsiders, indicating that specific distinctions persist over time. Postcolonial figurational analysis shows that one outsider group will take advantage of the arrival of a new group to exclude this latter by stigmatising, gossiping and stereotyping. On the one hand, ‘race relations, class relations and established-outsider relations are not mutually exclusive; they are all part of the same process of exclusion–inclusion’ (Lacassagne, 2016: 90). On the other hand, Lacassagne’s analysis reveals persistent hierarchies and dramatic power disparities for indigenous peoples (for Canada), portraying them as an outsider group whose status is not diminished by their high social age. Nevertheless, for our purpose, the categories by Elias and Scotson, such as the order of arrival and the internal group cohesion, seem useful to understand the established-outsider processes. It is important to note that in the context of flight and asylum, the European border regime is inherent in established-outsider relations (for example, the concept of ‘third country nationals’) (Hess and Kasparek, 2017). This regime is crucial regarding the social positioning, belonging and recognition of individuals, families and groups. It challenges transnational families, which ‘are defined here as families that live some or most of the time separated from each other’ to ‘create something that can be seen as a feeling of collective welfare and unity, namely ‘familyhood’, even across national borders.’ (Bryceson and Vuorela, 2002: 3). Following this, we argue that established-outsider relations also are transnationally embedded. This means that families or family members can establish themselves sociostructurally, yet still be considered outsiders in their transnational family, country of origin, and country of arrival and vice versa. Consequently, we need a transnational perspective (Wimmer and Glick Schiller, 2002) in figurational analyses of families in (forced) migration. The figurational approach is sensitive to the fact that power is not static and one-sided and that power balances can fluctuate. This also indicates reciprocal interactions between society and individuals.

For Germany, with its various immigration phases and groups, the established-outsider model promises a high degree of plausibility at the level of society (Treibel, 2017). Furthermore, it can be assumed that the Somali refugee group is not only assigned an outsider status due to their order of arrival but also multiple intersectionally linked stigmatisations and marginalisations as ‘Muslims’, ‘Refugees’ and ‘Africans’ are involved. Increasing racism in the past decade has created ‘an atmosphere of rejection and physical insecurity to a sense of social exclusion’ (Hoehne and Scharrer, 2023: 91). Our empirical analysis examines family figurations from the perspective of a perceived outsider group in Germany. Beyond positioning as outsiders at the societal level, intricate relations can also arise at the individual level in family relationships where one can strive to be an established migrant and another remains in an outsider position. Depending on changing we-groups and belongings, individuals can be both, established and outsider at the same time. At the individual and family level, we indicate the established-outsider relation along their sociostructural resources (for example, residence status, employment, living conditions, education) and social recognition (for example, belonging, cohesion, knowledge).

Methodology and methods

This study is based on a sample of ten Somali families with young children. They were recruited mainly through contacts with community gatekeepers and purposely not through youth and family services. This was to avoid possible fears of families about entanglements between research and public administration. Data collection with each family lasted up to one year and included at least five multi-sited family visits (for example, at home, playground, kindergarten). Our data were gathered in multiple steps: network visualisations, five photographs and several short videos of parent-child interactions per family as well as ten interviews with parent(s) while children were partially present and more than fifty participant observations during family visits. The study has passed the review of the Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Human Sciences from the University of Kassel and follows classical principles of research ethics (informed consent, do no harm, data protection, anonymisation and pseudonymisation). Adaptations took into consideration how potentially vulnerable and multilingual parents’ and children’s participation could be secured (Westphal et al, 2023 [2019]). First, the fieldwork needed a longer phase of building trust and understanding before data collection. For this, multilingual written and visualised (video) information was developed. Second, in anticipation of research barriers (for example, language, trust, drop-out rates), the methods gradually evolved to more complex forms of communication in the interviews. Third, we used translingual practices and methodologically controlled translations for interviews and transcriptions. For example, some interviews were conducted in German (as with Ali and Aamina; see next section), some were conducted in English more often than German (Fuadi), or with a German-Somali translator. The quality of translations was verified by native Somali speakers. In general, it is important in our research to be open to the greatest possible accountability and transparency and the need to embrace ethics, vulnerability and positionality (Westphal et al, 2023 [2019]).

The data analysis is founded on the documentary method and ethnography. The documentary method, which is derived from the reconstructive sociology of knowledge, was developed as a method of analysis for the collected types of data (Bohnsack, 2018). It aims to reconstruct the implicit knowledge that underlies everyday practice and provides an orientation to habitualised actions independent of individual intentions and motives. The documentary method does not consider the data as documents but rather interprets or documents the underlying patterns of meaning within the data (for example, in interviews, pictures, videos). Using a systematically guided procedure, a step-by-step approach enables researchers to move from the ‘what’ to the ‘how’, from explicit to implicit knowledge. The ‘what’ is dealt with in the formulating interpretation. This step focuses on the common sense knowledge. The attempt is made to separate oneself from prior knowledge or to suspend it. The subsequent reflecting interpretation is about the ‘how’: by comparison, it searches for homologies and reference points of individual horizons (striving and demarcation) to analyse the orientation framework (Bohnsack, 2018: 207). The method entails the final step of developing a comprehensive typology, however, this aspect is not addressed in this article. According to this method, we use the concept of orientation frameworks to analyse the figurations of parenting and upbringing as habitualised or guiding actions in refugee families in Germany, embedded in dynamics of established-outsider relationships in society and family. Orientation frameworks include implicit knowledge and guiding actions on established-outsider relations.

While the documentary method is characterised as ‘the sociality of knowledge’, ethnography is ‘the sociality of practices’ (Neumann, 2019: 63). Using ethnography, we were involved in families’ daily lives, observing what happened and what is seen, heard and felt and subsequently writing field notes serving as a basis for ‘thick descriptions’. This requires self-reflection because what the researchers experience in a ‘natural’ setting is not a given, but rather, is socially constructed and conditional (Li-Gottwald et al, 2024). A critical perspective (Palmer and Caldas, 2015) is necessary to explore the phenomenon of asymmetrical power, normalised social oppression and inequality noticed in established-outsider relations. It integrates reflexive inquiry, acknowledging researchers’ intrinsic connection to their subjects and their own biases. This includes multidimensional intersectional reflections. As a team and as individuals, our gender, ethnic, linguistic and social backgrounds inevitably contributed to the observations and writing of field notes, as well as conducting and analysing interviews. For instance, when our Asian female researcher, who is a mother, was able to share her migrant and parent identity with some of the participants, the data that emerged in her fieldwork were closely related to motherhood, friendship and future life planning. Concurrently, when our researcher with a Somali background, who does not have the same parental status, visited the same participant family, the results of her fieldwork indicated more data on the topics of racism and discrimination. By reflecting on these experiences, the results presented are interactionally co-constructed interpretations by both the researchers and participant families. Both, the documentary method and ethnography ensure to uncover blind spots and continually reflect on our ‘situational determination’ (Standortgebundenheit) and the influence of power dynamics at play.

The empirical results are mainly based on interview data and participant observations. Our aim is to reconstruct orientation frameworks of parenting in refugee families. Thereby we assert that they are involved in significant and simultaneous local and transnational established-outsider relations.

Empirical results

Three families representing the diversity of family forms are selected. They demonstrate the complex dynamics and changes of family figurations. Ali, a single and married father, Aamina, a single and divorced mother, and married parents, father Fuadi and mother Nasteh. While Aamina and Fuadi/Nasteh live with all their children, Ali had to leave behind his wife and children, but his youngest son came to live with him some years ago. All of the parents have been living in Germany for 7 to 12 years. Except for Ali, they met their partners and started a family during the forced migration (Aamina) and after arriving in Germany (Fuadi and Nasteh). At the time of the study, their children were 5 to 15 years old and integrated into kindergarten or in schools in Germany, as well as Koran and language schools in an East African country (Ali). Their transnational families are widespread and in constant change because of their different living and mobility conditions worldwide (Westphal and Korn, 2023). The parents strive to establish themselves and their children locally and transnationally based on their legal, economic and residential situations. Sociostructural establishment efforts go hand in hand with different normative and practice orientations, as we will show in the following.

Ali has been living in Germany for 11 years and provisionally secured his residence status five years ago through ‘successful integration’ benefits.¹ Yet, this does not allow for family reunification. Ali became a single father when his son (12 years old) suddenly appeared in Germany two years ago, where his first point of arrival was his aunt’s family. In Somalia, the son grew up with his mother and two teenage sisters, only knowing his father virtually. Mother and son fled to the European border, with only the son, unknowingly to Ali, being able to enter and the mother returning to her daughters. His new parental role comes with a great deal of stress and demands, partly because they are still waiting on a decision in the son’s asylum process. Meanwhile, Ali’s wife and daughters are awaiting family reunification in East Africa. Ali secures the family’s livelihood locally and transnationally through two jobs in the cleaning and care industry. This includes doing overtime and claiming wages in court. He also sends regular remittances to his family abroad. The son has to spend the afternoons alone at home in their apartment in a middle-class neighbourhood partly because of the financial costs of all-day school care. Ali has achieved a sense of independent living and local integration through hard endeavours.

The realisation of family reunification is the orientation framework of the entire interview narrative and ethnographic data. Our analysis shows that the family is actively striving to establish themselves to achieve the right for reunification and yet are denied this in a complex way keeping them in an outsider position. Ali’s actions to establish his nuclear family locally, are guided by his strong meritocratic narratives: status and entitlements are to be distributed according to achievements and competencies. He uses numerous everyday examples of the constant correct performance, such as being overly punctual and honest in official affairs, when he says, ‘Are you punctual? In Germany, you have to be honest, that’s what the law says’ (Interview Ali: 1640–1). Conforming to immanent system rules and his adaptation to them appear to be a possible (albeit unfair) guarantee for the chance to establish his family. His economic and administrative achievements, as well as his acquired explicit knowledge of the system (for example, the German language and legal framework) and his support of other Somalis, should also enable certain privileges at some point. Yet, Ali recognises discrepancies with regard to different refugee groups: ‘The people who came here in 2015 or 20, yes, they get (.) residence permits, everyone is lucky, no problem. [...] but who works? And pays taxes?’ (Interview Ali: 1615–19). However, for those who – like him and his son – arrived earlier and invested much time and effort, it would be just to grant residence and full societal participation for the whole family quickly and reliably. This shows the attempt to ensure social status prerogatives with a reference towards the order of arrival along the temporal dimension of established-outsider relations. The shift in the perceived order of arrival is due to racist and powerful orders of the European migration regime, which have become even more significant to Ali because of the war in Ukraine. He further criticises the residence procedures for refugees from other countries as a violation of human dignity (‘they are not material […] these people have families, they are human beings’, Interview Ali: 1819–20).

Ali’s efforts to establish his family are immense but remain unseen. On the one hand, dealing properly with asylum authorities and administrative procedures creates enormous pressure on time, financial and emotional resources. This becomes clear when the father indirectly uses the context of our research interview for his son to rehearse the upcoming asylum interview by repeatedly asking him to answer questions properly. The authorities, however, prove to be unreliable, non-transparent and protracted in their dealings. The left-behind mother/wife and sisters/daughters have been living in a forced transnational family situation for ten years. Age regulations in the asylum and reunification procedure reinforce the sense of urgency. On the other hand, making familyhood through providing financially and doing domestic work as a single father as well as being responsible for the children’s education is also not recognised. The current transnational family figuration and the children’s conditions of growing up are digitally negotiated between mother and father. This becomes apparent with regard to their education and language competencies as the prerequisites deemed necessary for their reunification and establishment process in Germany. The daughters have to attend an English language school in preparation of their migration to Europe and the son has to give them online German lessons during his school holidays. This shows that intra-familial dynamics in established-outsider figurations are significant because the son is presented as more established locally in relation to his mother and sisters. During a researcher’s family visit, the daughters are asked by their father to display their German skills by introducing themselves via a video call and presenting their achievements.

In sum, Ali has to have a very transnational perspective. He seeks the ‘we’ in his forced transnational nuclear family even after many years of physical separation. In order to overcome this, all family members need to be willing to perform. He requires them to be eager to learn, adhere to desirable behaviour and be future-oriented despite uncertain prospects of family reunification. Yet, despite the family’s endeavours to establish themselves sociostructurally with great commitment, honesty and Ali’s length of residence and employment, the children and parents are denied rights that other refugees have obtained after a short time. The adopted orientation framework of family reunification and overcoming the involuntary transnational family figuration contains discrepancies between Ali’s meritocratic narrative and practice of social recognition. The family’s achievements are not recognised; rather, they are prevented by the state. These preventions are reinforced by his perceived unfair position in established-outsider relations compared with (White) refugees who arrived much later. The rupture of being established in Germany from the perspective of the transnational family of origin but at the same time not being addressed as such locally by Germans in accordance with the order of arrival reinforces Ali’s sense of injustice.

Aamina received protection in Germany with her three children after ten years of fleeing and undergoing asylum procedures in various European countries. She has not lost hope and faith over many years and places, despite experiencing many hardships in various refugee camps with her sons. The oldest son, in particular, had to endure many separations and losses from people, places and things. The common refugee experience created a strong emotional bond between them and resulted in mutual loyalty and commitment. The family’s high mobility in seeking refuge in Europe sheds light on their transnational trajectories. Now they have established stability with their residence permits including prospects of German citizenship. Aamina works in the field of geriatric care and regularly works night shifts. To earn a higher income in the future, she is completing vocational training. Her family lives in an apartment in a middle-class suburban neighbourhood.

Aamina’s data document an orientation framework of individuality and independence. With her vocational training and her plan to become self-employed, her family can finally settle down. As a divorced woman and single parent, she focuses on establishing herself as free from any further family ties, especially marital ties and obligations. Aamina emphasises her striving for independence by clearly setting herself apart from other Somalis, especially men. She says, ‘[...] our men are weak. The men from my people, if he works eight hours, he’s done’ (Interview Aamina: 960–1). By using ‘my people’, she affiliates with Somalis, but at the same time, she also identifies differences and distances along the categories of nationality and gender. Varying power balances can be observed with regard to Aamina’s position as an outsider according to certain Somali communities (especially men) and as established according to transnational extended family. Aamina finds Somali men to be unable to support their families with domestic work and only complain about hard labour. In contrast, her self-image as a single working mother means: ‘I can always, I can always. It doesn’t matter if I’m broken, if it’s important, I must do it. That’s my responsibility’ (Interview Aamina: 962–4). She distances herself further along the generational category: ‘I’m not like my parents. Like other parents: my children must be like this. My children must be like that’ (Interview Aamina: 1042–4). Rather they should be independent in their own decision making concerning their studies, career aspirations and family planning. The ethnographic data also show that she encourages her sons to learn how to cook and bake. They should be able to help with the household and run it independently. Aamina, thus, differentiates herself from the educational goals of her parents and other Somalis. ‘Yes, because that’s my mentality. I don’t like what my people do. I want my children to be different’ (Interview Aamina: 331). This reinforces an orientation towards the local, established normative educational concepts of autonomy and individuality. The mother’s orientation towards individuality and independence does have its limits. First, she has to provide remittances not only to her mother but also to other relatives. ‘That’s a must’ (Interview Aamina: 472). Second, she is dependent on support care for her children to follow her own professional goals. The support comes from her oldest son and more so, she relies on her transnational extended family insofar as she has taken a sister, who has just arrived in Germany, into her household. She positions her as a newcomer, who can, therefore, also be characterised as ‘confused in language and everything’ (Interview Aamina: 414). Aamina views herself as established locally, which is not only characterised by her length of residence but also the ability to support her sister’s livelihood locally and her sister’s left-behind children transnationally. Therefore, not only social age but also financial and practical resources are significant in this established-outsider relation. Above all, her local family and female friendships play an important role in her sense of belonging and cohesion. In contrast with Ali, Aamina has extended family members living close by, such as a male cousin who attends a nearby university, spends leisure time with the sons and provides practical support. Furthermore, she receives social recognition from close friendships with single mothers with refugee experiences.

Overall, Aamina’s orientation framework of individuality and independence aligns with established emancipated gender and educational concepts. At the same time, she does not discuss the refugee-specific experiences of her sons. She is aware of the ‘back and forth’ of their shared experiences, the separation of places and people and the existential uncertainty for everyone (‘we didn’t know what was coming’), but fervently hopes that, as ‘the children were still small’, they did not notice much (Interview Aamina: 198; 886). She describes it as lucky to have obtained the residence permit ‘in time’ before her eldest son started school. Transnational interactions do not play a significant role in the children’s upbringing. Aamina does not indicate any transnational practices of her sons with fathers or members of the extended family. In terms of established-outsider figurations, her efforts regarding sociostructural establishment and social recognition are aimed at her local immediate family. Yet, some transnational members are still somewhat important to Aamina. Therefore, she does not reject transnational orientations but positions herself critically according to gender, intergenerational and ethnic community-based norms. Aamina presents herself as pragmatic and functional. She involves her sons, especially the eldest, in various tasks and responsibilities from an early age. After all, it is not only she who has to function under the pressure of establishing herself but also her children.

Fuadi and Nasteh met 12 years ago in a refugee camp in Germany and they are now parents to three children. They acquired German citizenship during data collection, two years after submitting their application. Fuadi has two jobs in the delivery industry and sends regular remittances to family members abroad. He also had to enforce his labour rights in court. The family lives in a high-rise apartment complex in a rather disadvantaged area.

Interview and ethnographic observations document an orientation framework of responsible parenthood and citizenship. Fuadi states: ‘It’s a huge responsibility to have kids, a huge responsibility. I never thought it would be so hard. Therefore, it’s like, they are my future and I have to shape their future’ (Interview Fuadi: 857–9). In the research process, multisite family visits were also conducted with Nasteh. The data that involved more demanding verbal interactions were collected solely from Fuadi, while Nasteh was primarily caring for the children. Since Fuadi informed us early on that her family history is marked by vulnerable circumstances, we refrained from pursuing this further following the principle of ‘do no harm’. Compared with common family upbringing in Somalia, Fuadi perceives parental responsibilities in Germany as more intense. The physical absence of extended family, however, is a challenge when intensifying parenting. Similarly to Aamina, independence is also important to Fuadi, but he reflects on the efforts of child rearing and embeds it as a collective or communitarian task. Due to family fragmentation, though, he has to be ‘everyone for the kids’ (Interview Fuadi: 431–2). However, he can share parenting responsibilities with Nasteh and also manages to create bonds in the neighbourhood described as family-like. The feeling of parental responsibility is relevant from Fuadi’s family history. He grew up as a left-behind child with a strong and protective grandmother because of the death of his father and his mother’s move to North America. It is important to him to pass on the whole family history to his children in an age- and development-appropriate manner. He demonstrates family biographical continuity by focusing on his children’s education as his grandmother and mother (through remittances) did: ‘I want to invest in my kids is the way I was’ (Interview Fuadi: 463). This not only means financial support but also emotional and practical support as well as the sense of belonging. The educational involvements were transnational for him and can now also be organised transnationally for his children. The activation of his transnational extended family becomes important in the context of institutional care (kindergarten) in pick-up situations, as they complain to their parents that they can only be picked up by Nasteh and not by other relatives. As a result, the parents use the money they have saved to organise a family visit to an East African metropolis lasting several weeks. The children not only learn the language but also learn about belonging and community: ‘Now they already know grandma, grandpa, auntie, everything’ (Interview Fuadi: 60). This further becomes evident in the ethnographic observations. Continuity of transnational relationships after the family visit is ensured through digital media. The parents’ ability to revive a transnational network as well as their legal and financial status which enable mobility specifically targeting child upbringing, demonstrate their established position in the transnational space. The children will from now on be able to continue to maintain intergenerational family relations as observed in participant observation. Continuity is further ensured by welcoming newcomers to their home. During a family visit, the researcher encountered an unknown person praying in the living room, which initially caused surprise. On enquiring about the stranger’s identity, Fuadi revealed that she was a cousin who had newly arrived.

Furthermore, Fuadi’s orientation is highly compatible with parental concepts and family policies in Germany. Responsibility is always displayed, with communication being one of his guiding actions. Reciprocal communication is essential to him, not only in his relationships and daily interactions with his children but also with educational institutions. This allows him to easily tie in with the norms of the so-called educational partnership with kindergartens and schools. In the research process, he shows a self-image as an educated and empathetic person. He says, ‘Other families who came here and they had no education in Somalia and they have difficulties because I see a lot of problems at the moment’ (Interview Fuadi: 646). Owing to his education, language skills and mental strength, Fuadi sees himself in a more established position than others and so can help. Some refugees are ‘mentally, they’re very strong’, while others ‘don’t have that strong mentality’. These people ‘will go flat here’ (Interview Fuadi: 145–7). Additionally, he attributes a certain seniority in the ‘order of arrival’ to himself within the transnational and local Somali community. Looking back on his early days in Germany, he states, ‘It’s not like right now whereby you can ask me or someone, […] you will get immediate help. There were no Somalis’ (Interview Fuadi: 621–2). Now, he works as a community advocate, including founding a registered association, to constantly expand his network and knowledge. From his sociostructural resources and social recognition, it seems that the family fulfils the requirements to be considered an established figure locally and transnationally. Nevertheless, Fuadi’s intergenerational, transnational establishment efforts are ambivalent in terms of social recognition. He describes how his children currently identify more as Somalis in their environment (for example, family, school, language) despite being born and growing up in Germany and being naturalised there. Fuadi tries to counteract this by explaining to the children that they can be both: ‘I tell them you are Somali-Deutsch’ (Interview Fuadi: 705). Whether he will succeed in the long term and how the children will deal with imposed outsider positions seems to cause uncertainty. A similar strategy can be seen in dealing with the (institutional) racism that children experience at school. He refers to systemic racism, which can only be recognised ‘if you are a very intelligent person’, then ‘you can feel it’ (Interview Fuadi: 753). It is not easy to identify and understand certain situations as racist. It is more of a feeling – the feeling of being an outsider. From his point of view, his educational habitus enables him to identify hidden racism. In turn, he attempts to counter this through communication at all levels. As a responsible parent, he does not ignore such experiences, but rather addresses them in the home environment with his daughter, for example, by strengthening and encouraging her, ‘you have to be there as a parent to help her feel she’s beautiful, she’s kind’ (Interview Fuadi: 834). In the school context, he emphatically seeks dialogue with teachers or school administrators for himself and also for other families.

In sum, Fuadi’s sociostructural position and social recognition establish him locally and transnationally. This opens his scope of action to activate a transnational intergenerational network. With his orientation framework as a responsible parent and citizen he experiences the pressure to maintain the local establishment for the children’s generation, especially given the challenges of local inclusion permanently threatened by racism and other power dynamics. He distinguishes his children from newly arrived young refugees, viewing the latter as outsiders while aiming for his own children to establish themselves through family, formal education and awareness of their German citizenship.

Discussion: transnational figuration of the ‘arrival family’

Parenting and upbringing in refugee families are embedded in highly complex and multilayered established-outsider relationships. Even though refugee families in Germany are often positioned as outsiders on the margins, we have confirmed that family figurations are not static. Both locally and transnationally, sociostructural resources and social recognition produce varying dynamic family figurations. With the documentary method, we uncover the families’ interpretations and involvement in varying figurations. Their orientation frameworks implicitly guide their everyday practices within established-outsider figurations. First, Ali’s orientation framework is founded on family reunification. Based on meritocratic guiding actions, the family hopes to overcome their forced transnational figuration. Their transnational practices focus on the children’s education and an anticipated ‘we-ness’ (Rosenthal, 2022) by maintaining relationships through daily video calls and other forms of digital communication and education, and the displaying of their success to researchers, or using part of the interview to prepare the son for the upcoming asylum interview. Despite extensive efforts with local establishment in mind, Ali struggles with the lack of social and legal recognition, which keeps his family in an outsider position. Yet the role of his son in the transnational sibling relationship shows that the intra-family dynamics are even more complex. Second, Aamina shows an orientation framework of individuality and independence as a woman. Two of her children experienced years of forced transnational cross-border mobility with her, with continuous experiences of loss, insecurity and oppression. Her goal is to establish her sons locally so that they can remain independent of transnational and intergenerational family obligations and rigid gender roles. To realise this, Aamina’s actions are pragmatic-functional. Even if this means for her to take on the role of an outsider transnationally and locally within the Somali community. Yet, she benefits from her transnational family in local care practices. Third, Fuadi shows an orientation framework of responsible parenthood, including transnational practices. Due to their local establishment, the family has the sociostructural resources to use their transnational extended family ties for their children’s education and sense of transnational belonging. Based on communicative-reflexive guiding actions, Fuadi compensates for the threat of his children becoming outsiders.

While orientation frameworks and figurations can be theoretically separated, our empirical analysis shows the deep interdependencies between parental orientation frameworks and family figurations. With the figurational approach, we show that the local and transnational establishment dynamics and the social age in the ‘order of arrival’ enable the families to become places of arrival. This becomes apparent in the case of Aamina’s sister, Fuadi and Nasteh’s cousin and Ali’s son, who experienced several places of arrival in Germany. Being a place of arrival is only possible for the families because the parents already have certain established rights and resources in the local space, and it is expected of them in the transnational space. Their homes serve as safe places independent of institutional refugee and asylum regimes. We refer to this specific figuration with the term ‘arrival families’. The concepts of established-outsider and transnationality and locality come together presenting strong interdependent patterns in this figuration. The position of a transnationally established ‘arrival family’ is also important for the local family’s upbringing of children. Children experience their positioning not only in the local but also in the transnational space. Transnationality remains relevant even years after the parents’ arrival and establishment. Children who have not experienced migration and specifically the asylum process themselves repeatedly experience it through new arrivals in the family. Thus, the experiences of the arrivals still continue to shape everyday family practice. Children continuously learn what it means to arrive anew, to orient themselves and to go through an asylum procedure. At the same time, refugees who are taken in by an ‘arrival family’ can sometimes provide relief for parents by taking on tasks in raising the family. Overall, our empirical reconstruction of three case families already offered insights into the complexities of family figurations. Still, there is a need for further conceptual development of this figuration and more precise analyses of its significance. At the core of our figurational analysis lies the recognition that the positions of the established and outsiders unfold as multidimensional changing power relations. Furthermore, we show that established-outsider relations in the context of flight and migration are more complex than social age and order of arrival. It confirms the relevance of various intersectional categories. Due to the racist and growing right-wing structures in the European migration regime, even the established position can be threatened and called into question. For exploring parenting in refugee families, the application of Eliasian sociology proved to be productive for examining the figuration of ‘arrival families’, which inherently includes transnational intergenerational continuity.

Our contribution expands on previous studies on family figurations and migration (Christ and Etzold, 2022; Rosenthal, 2022; Schramm, 2021) in that we point out the simultaneity of transnationality and locality. Additionally, we focus on parenting and upbringing as research on young children growing up in refugee families has been lacking so far (Korn and Westphal, 2024). Furthermore, the empirical results show evidence of power balances that influence inclusion and exclusion processes in parenting and upbringing in (forced) migration. The combined analysis of orientations and figurations enables us to discuss this transnationally and locally. Concepts of inclusion–exclusion and established-outsider relations need to overcome methodological nationalism (Wimmer and Glick Schiller, 2002). Consequently, family and migration/refugee studies have to consider the interdependent and intersectional patterns in transnational and local figurations in more depth, which we will pursue further with our comprehensive data material.

Funding

This work was supported by the German Research Foundation (Grant no. 444831277).

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.