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This chapter explores the lives and literary work of the middle generation of contemporary writers in Myanmar through three writers: Ye Shan, short story writer and railway superintendent; Ma Thida, journalist, editor, short story writer, non-fiction writer, novelist, surgeon and former political prisoner; and Zeyar Lynn, poet and English language teacher.

This introductory chapter of Contemporary Grandparenting provides an overview of the main themes, arguments and frameworks that research on grandparents has yielded, highlighting how the book addresses lacunae in the literature and engages with new/poorly understood aspects of grandparenthood. The chapter outlines the key recent changes in the demographic, socioeconomic, family and social policy contexts that frame grandparenthood. Key concepts and frameworks (solidarity, conflict and ambivalence) that are discussed and advanced in Contemporary Grandparenting are introduced in this chapter. Research on how grandparenting practices vary by gender, lineage, age, marital status, grandchild characteristics and geographical distance is summarised. Typologies of grandparenting styles are outlined. Research that has approached family relations through focus on intergenerational transfers (of time, money, practical assistance) is briefly discussed. The strong emphasis on the middle generation that emerges from earlier literature is synopsised. The chapter concludes by arguing that the role of grandparents in 21^st-century families is more multidimensional, complex and dynamic than it has been in earlier periods in history. Grandparents are a heterogeneous group, and important differences persist between cultural and welfare state contexts in how grandparenthood is constructed and enacted. The nature of grandparenting is evolving in response to external demands from families and economies, but also in accordance with grandparents’ own choices.

Soon after the U.S. entry into World War II, Korean nationalist organizations once again took to lobbying intensively for the official recognition of the exiled Korean Provisional Government in China, which is detailed in this chapter. Seeing themselves as part of a common international struggle against Japan, Korean nationalist leaders expected the Allied powers, particularly the United States, to play a more active role in the liberation of their homeland. For many Koreans, recognition from the U.S. state rather than immediate independence became a focal point of nationalist activities. By the mid-1940s, this reliance on U.S. sovereignty as the guarantor of Korean national interests became firmly ensconced in the strategic visions of many nationalist leaders, including the activities of the United Korean Committee in America (UKC). This reliance on U.S. state power reflected an ethnic orientation among Korean immigrants that defined and understood their political interests and goals in relation to U.S. state structures and society rather than a national Korean state. Their quest for statehood ended as they became ethnic subjects of the U.S. liberal state.

This chapter focuses on grandparenting in families where members of the middle generation have divorced or separated. Grandparents’ roles in divorced and separated families range from intensive co-parenting to situations where they experience a drastic reduction or complete withdrawal of contact with grandchildren. The findings are in line with the argument that paternal grandparents tend to experience greater difficulties than maternal grandparents in securing what they see as an adequate level of contact with grandchildren following divorce (the ‘matrilineal advantage’ or the ‘matrifocal bias’). The influence of the middle generation was strongly evident, corroborating the parent-as-mediator theory. Grandparents’ feelings of affective solidarity, their protective parenting style, and unstinting practical support of their adult children support the argument that some grandparents revert to earlier parenting roles when their adult child divorces. However, the chapter also argues that grandparents seek to actively influence the extent to which they are involved in the lives of grandchildren and the middle generation. Grandparents make choices and develop strategies to shape their involvement in the lives of younger family generations. Some (paternal) grandparents are able to use their agency to forge positive relationships with the custodial parent. The main motive for exercising grandparental agency is the wellbeing of and contact with their grandchildren, but agency can also be used in the interest of their own wellbeing for instance to reduce involvement in grandchild care. The chapter concludes by encouraging research into what shapes grandparental agency and conjectures that the main determinants of agency are gender, education, income and wealth, and the characteristics of the separating couple in the middle generation.