Contact Profile Address

Professor Loretta Baldassar

Professor
Anthropology and Sociology

Research Interests

• Ageing
• Australian settler society
• Ethnicity, race relations, migration and second generation
• Medical anthropology and sociology
• Transnationalism, transnational families
• Women, gender, sexuality

Qualifications:

BSc PhD <em>W.Aust</em>.

Key Research and Expertise:

Teaching of migration, culture and identity, sociological perspectives on Australian society, social inequality, Australian studies, introduction to sociology and introduction to Australian society. Research interests include migration studies, ethnicity, second generation migrant identities, diaspora studies, Australian settler societies, multiculturalism, citizenship, Italy/the anthropology of Mediterranean societies, cross-cultural health care.

Future Research:

My main area of research is in migration studies, particularly Italian migration to Australia. I have conducted extensive fieldwork in the Northern Italian region of the Veneto, in Sicily and in Perth and far north Queensland. Key themes in my research are the phenomenon of the return visit in the migration process and the relationship between place and identity. I also conduct research on so-called 'second generation' migrants in Australia and consider issues of intergenerational conflict and the transmission of culture. My most recent research is an ARC funded project together with Professor Cora Baldock (Sociology, Murdoch University) and Dr Raelene Wilding (La Trobe) that examines the impact of transnational migration on care-giving relations between adult children and their parents. The specific question addressed in the study is the extent to which transnational migrants are able to give care and support to their geographically distant parents as they age. The study examines humanitarian, family reunion and business migrants and draws case study examples from migrants and their families in Singapore, Italy, the Netherlands, Ireland, New Zealand and refugees from Iraq and Afghanistan and their families in Iran. My current research is an ARC Linkage Project on 'Italian Lives' which explores Italian migration to Western Australia (see the Staff Research Page for more details on both these projects). Plans for future research include a project on Ageing and Mobility that examines the ways in which the geographic dispersal of kin and friends, access to travel and communication technologies and diverse living arrangements impact on their ability to maintain informal networks of support.

Publications:

Books:

Baldassar, L., Baldock, C., & Wilding, R. (2007) Families Caring Across Borders: Migration, Aging and Transnational Caregiving. London: Palgrave MacMillan.

Baldassar, L. & Pesman, R. (2005) From Paesani to Global Italians: Veneto Migrants in Australia. Crawley, University of Western Australia Press. [Italian translation published (2004) I Veneti in Australia: sfide di storia contemporanea. Padua: ANEA].

Baldassar, L. (2001) Visits Home: migration experiences between Italy and Australia. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press (winner NSW Premier's Literary Award, Community Relations Section)


Chapters and journal articles:

Baldassar, L. (2007) 'Transnational Families and aged care: the mobility of care and the migrancy of ageing', Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 33 (2):275-297.

Baldassar, L. (2007) ‘Transnational Families and the Provision of Moral and Emotional Support: The Relationship between Truth and Distance’ Identities 14(4).

Lange, C., Kamalkhani, Z. & Baldassar, L. (2007) ‘Afghan Hazara Refugees in Australia: Constructing Australian Citizens’, Social Identities 13(1):31-50.

Baldassar, L., Wilding, R. & Baldock, C., (2007) 'Long-distance care-giving, transnational families and the provision of aged care', in I. Paoletti (ed.) Family Caregiving for Older Disabled, Nova Science, New York, Chapter 10.

Skrbis, Z., Baldassar, L., & Poynting, S. (2007) ‘Social sciences and the question of generations’ in Negotiating Belonging: Migration and Generations, Special Issue of Journal of Intercultural Studies. Vol 28, Issue 2.

Baldassar, L. (2006) ‘Migration monuments in Italy and Australia: contesting histories and transforming identities’, in Harney, N. & Baldassar , L. (Eds) Special Issue 'Italians Share the Neighbourhood', Journal of Modern Italy, Vol 11, No 1, pp43-62.

Baldassar, L. (2005) “Italians in Australia”. In Melvin Ember, Carol R. Ember, & Ian Skoggard (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Diasporas: Immigrant and Refugee Cultures Around the World (pp. 850-864). New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers.

Cabassi, J., & Baldassr, L. (2005) “Dal’amata montagna to the Garden of Eden” in J. Blagg (Eds) The Child is Wise: An anthology of childhood writing. Fremantle Arts Press.

Baldassar, L. (2004) ‘Italians in Western Australia: from dirty ding to multicultural mate’ In Wilding, R. & Tilbury, F., (eds) A Changing People: Diverse Contributions to the State of Western Australia. OMI, Perth.

Robert S McKelvery, David L Sang, Loretta B Baldassar, Lisa Davies, Neil Cutler, (2002) “The prevalence rate of psychiatric disorders among Vietnamese children and adolescents” The Medical Journal of Australia.

Baldassar, L., & Trigger, D. (2001) ‘Australia’ In Melvin Ember & Carol R. Ember (Eds) Countries and Their Cultures. Macmillan Library Reference. Vol 1, pp. 112-126.

Baldassar, L. (2001) ‘Tornare al Paese: territorio e identità nel processo migratorio’ Altre Italie 23:1-11.

Baldassar, L. (2000) "Gender, ethnicity and transnational citizenship: Italian-Australian experiences" In Lange, C. (ed.) Being Australian Women: Belonging, Citizenship and Identity. Studies in West Australian History. University of Western Australia. No. 21:13-31.

Baldassar, L. (1999) 'The Road Home" Meanjin Wide Open Road 3:42-59

Baldassar, L. (1999) "Marias and Marriage - Ethnicity, Gender and Sexuality among Italo-Australian Youth in Perth" The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Sociology. Vol 35 No. 1.

Baldassar, L. (1998) "The Return Visit as Pilgrimage: Secular Redemption and Cultural Renewal in the Migration Process" in Richards, E. & Templeton, J. (eds) The Australian Immigrant In The Twentieth Century: Searching Neglected Sources. Division of Historical Studies and Centre for Immigration and Multicultural Studies, Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University.

Baldassar, L. (1997) "Home and Away: migration, the return visit and 'transnational' identity" In Ang, I. and Symonds, M. (eds) Communal/Plural 5: Home, Displacment, Belonging. Sydney: Research Centre in Intercommunal Studies, UWS Nepean.

Baldassar, L. & Baldock, C. (1999) "Linking Migration and Family Studies: Transnational Migrants and the Care of Ageing Parents", In Agozino, B. (eds.) Theoretical and Methodological Issues in Migration Research. Ashage, Aldershot, UK.

Baldassar, L., Baldock, C. & Lange, C. (1999) "Immigration and Transnational Care-Giving: Public Policies and their Impact on Migrants' Ability to Care from a Distance" in M. Collis, L. Munro & S. Russell (eds) Challenges for a New Millennium. TASA conference proceedings. Melbourne.

Baldassar, L. & Skrbis, Z. (1998) "Second Generation and the Transmission of Culture. "In Alexander et.al. (eds) Refashioning Sociology: Responses to a New World Order. Brisbane: Queensland University of Technology.

Baldassar, L. (2000) 'Gender, Ethnicity and Transnational Citizenship: Italian Australian experiences', in Cheryl Lange (ed.), 'Being Australian Women: Belonging, Citizenship and Identity', Studies in Western Australian History, No. 21.
http://www.anthropology.arts.uwa.edu.au/__data/page/127188/Baldassar_in_Lange.pdf

Useful Links:

Loretta Baldassar is also ocassional Chair and Co-founder of the W.A. Migration Research Network: http://www.multicultural.online.wa.gov.au/mrnwa/ of which the website provides user-friendly access to the migration research database.

Languages:

Italian