ABSTRACT
This chapter posits the need to question the ideal(s) of family care, at its multiple levels. One such ideal relates to the image of families as harmonious, held together by reciprocity and good intentions, where unbalanced burdens, power struggles and conflict are missing. As such, the aim of this chapter is to problematise these preconceptions and hold ideals up against realities and to sketch out the hidden underside of such family functioning and care circulation within them, which up to now has been portrayed as a sort of mechanical and taken-for-granted process. By drawing on examples extracted from the fieldwork, it highlights the lack of protection and alternative options for some family members, making them socially vulnerable. In their disadvantaged condition, gender and social class are key. Their lives are shaped by the local and transnational contexts and their inherent asymmetries in power relationships and opportunities.
