Introduction

An increasing number of families around the world are living apart-defining and redefining their relationships, roles, and ways of maintaining a sense of cohesion across distance. This book uniquely highlights how families, both in times of crisis and within normative cultural practices, organize and configure themselves and their parenting across distance. Readers are given a unique peek into the lives of families globally that are affected by separation in a wide range of circumstances including migration, fosterage, divorce, military deployment, education, and orphanhood. Authors delve into the daily reality of members and help us understand why families live apart, how families are redefined across distance, and the impact on various members. This volume is unique in its representation of issues affecting families around the world, in its broad geographic scope of studies, and in the diverse representation of authors from fields such as psychology, anthropology, sociology, education, and geography.