Martor. Revue d’Anthropologie du Musée du Paysan Roumain, n. 18,

This article presents a critical discussion of the so-called “left behind children” children, beginning with a review of the literature on transnationalism and the anthropology and sociology of childhood. This examination looks at the ways in which official discourse on the “left behind” category is based on childhood and family models which are culturally defined yet not universal. Through ethnographic evidence from two different regions of Romania will show that there is a discrepancy between the official description of the phenomenon and the reality lived by children and adults interviewed during the course of this research.