International migrants are often members of global networks before they have embarked on their journeys. Often these are informal contacts, who form a vital nexus in the early days of relocation. Many immigrant women will rely on such connections in order to make the transition from one country to another, seeking out the assistance of relatives and friends, or the friends of friends, in order to find stepping stones into their new lives and contexts or to find work and accommodation. In turn, many of these women will, over time and once they are more settled, engage in community work, with local associations and diasporic networks. At times, this may be to provide new immigrants with information. At others, it will be to showcase home cultures, foods and ethnicity or, indeed, to confirm the hybrid identity of the transnational. Some of these networks are informal. Some arise organically, through contacts at their childrens’ schools and via language classes. Others, supported financially by communities, religious trusts or the city council, have a more formal structure with clear aims. Yet others seek to create understanding of diversity in neighbourhoods, as in the densely multi-ethnic Raval in Barcelona’s Ciutat Vella, through initiatives such as Tot Raval. Without exception, though, women use their networks and associations as routes through which to relocate, integrate and remake home in this city.
Parvati Nair
