Walking, mothering and care: a sensory ethnography of journeying on-foot with children in Wollongong, Australia

Abstract

This article presents a material feminist perspective into motherhood and walking. Our aim is to explore the process of women ‘becoming mothers’ through journeying on-foot somewhere with children in car-dependent cities. To do so we utilise empirical material gathered as part of a walking sensory ethnography with families living in Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. Drawing on Deleuze and Guattari’s assemblage thinking and a feminist care ethics we argue that entanglements with bodies and materials alongside ideas, emotions and affects shape how motherhood becomes and is felt on-the-move through ‘moments of care’. We discuss five moments where care emerges not just as a gendered practice, but as an affective force and embodiment of motherhood; these include: preparedness, togetherness, playfulness, watchfulness, and attentiveness. Instead of assuming the figure of the mother is a given identity; insights are provided into how the dilemmas of becoming a ‘good’ mobile mother are felt through moments of care.

Keywords:

• Families
• mobility
• cities
• assemblage
• urban politics
• ethics of care

Acknowledgements

Thank you to the families who participated in the project and invited us into their lives. Thank you to the editors, the anonymous reviewers, Ian Buchanan, Carrie Wilkinson and Rebecca Campbell for such helpful constructive feedback on earlier manuscript drafts.