Negotiating Narratives of Elderly Care: The Case of Pakistani Migration to Norway

This paper draws attention to elderly male Pakistani immigrants in Norway and how they relate to a welfare culture where elderly care is largely defined as public responsibility vested in tax-financed service arrangements. It explores how norms and ideals of family organization and elderly care, as contained in pre-emigrational master narratives, are transmitted, negotiated, or modified to shape intergenerational reciprocity on the backdrop of an egalitarian welfare state. Focusing on narrativity and the tropes identified in the personal stories of elderly Norwegian-Pakistani men, we demonstrate that references to master narratives of ideal practice sometimes overshadow real needs and falsely portray elderly care as a ‘self-solved’ problem. There is a range of stigmas associated with a departure from familial care. This in turn reinforces stereotypical depictions and aversive attitudes about public intervention, which again nourishes the desire to keep in line with their tradition. Despite cherishment of tradition, our empirical data show that personal stories often constitute covert counter narratives, that is, elderly Norwegian-Pakistanis are beginning to accept that some forms of public assistance could be rendered both necessary and morally acceptable in light of pragmatic circumstances.