Mothering as a citizenship practice: an intersectional analysis of ‘carework’ and ‘culturework’ in non-normative mother–child identities

Abstract

In this article, a comparative analysis is presented of two ethnographic case studies on mothering practices in Belgium. Interviews with, and participant observation among, both undocumented migrant mothers from the South and Belgian white adoptive mothers of black Ethiopian-born children provide an insight into the way in which mothering plays an important role in the pursuit of citizenship. In our analysis, we draw on critical theorizations of citizenship from feminist, multicultural and globalization perspectives, and of care, intimacy and the affective in order to show how mothering can be viewed as a citizenship practice that transcends boundaries of the private, public and the nation. In their ‘carework’ and ‘culturework’, both undocumented migrant and white adoptive mothers negotiate prevalent ideologies of mothering that are often exclusionary of their own and their children's sense of identity and belonging. Their mothering involves building new networks and strengthening their children's identities in culturally creative ways. We argue that although these mothering practices are embedded in a multiplicity of intersecting privileges and inequalities, within restraints imposed by the nation-state context, this carework attests to the agentic capacity of mothering and its potential to affect politics of inclusion, recognition and changing hegemonic understandings of citizenship and belonging.

Keywords::

• parenting
• affective citizenship
• undocumented migrant mothers
• transnational adoption
• Belgium

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the participating adoptive and undocumented migrant mothers for their openness in discussing their experiences with us. Without their cooperation, this study would not have been possible. We would also like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments and suggestions.

Notes

^1. Organizations working with undocumented refugees estimate their number in Belgium to have reached up to 150,000 in recent years (Devillé 2008, p. 78). In September 2009, the Belgian government launched its third ‘regularization campaign’, which allowed illegal aliens to apply for regularization based on various criteria that applicants must ‘prove’ (such as affective ties to Belgium, a labour contract, families with school-going children, humanitarian reasons and enduring extreme, long asylum procedures). All of the women in this study applied for regularization. At the time of writing (August 2011), only two have received a positive answer, one a negative answer and the other is still awaiting the outcome. A positive answer to an appeal for regularization entails the granting of a temporary identity card. Further procedures and requirements are necessary (e.g. a labour contract) for permanent residency permits and only after a lengthy period can one apply for Belgian nationality that grants citizenship status.

^2. Although Belgium had colonies in Africa, in comparison to other European colonizers, Belgium did not grant citizenship to the colonized, and relatively few colonial subjects were allowed to travel to Belgium during occupation (Ceuppens and De Mul 2009, p. 64). Furthermore, there was no significant post-colonial immigration to Belgium until the 1980s and 1990s. However, most immigrants from the former colonies came as part of an increasingly diversified inflow of refugees and asylum seekers (Phalet and Swyngedouw 2003, pp. 3–4).

^3. The names of both case studies participants are changed in order to protect confidentiality. Interviews with the undocumented migrant mothers were carried out in French, Spanish or English. The adoptive mothers were interviewed in Dutch. (All interview excerpts are translated into English).