Immagined communities und imagined families in der sozialen Unterstützungsforschung am Schnittpunkt von Migrations- und Alternsforschung.

Based on the concepts of imagined communities and imagined families the article de- velops at the intersection of aging and migration studies the thesis, that the imaginary dimension of social communities can contribute to the mobilization of social support. But at the same time it can cover the missing potential of social support in old age. Against this background, suggestions for social support research are made to discover conflicts and ambivalences that might be hidden through the ideal imagination of personal relations and communities.