The impetus for this research study came about from the question posed in Chapter 1- What is it about the post-migration settlement process that makes many South Asian women carry out their mothering work in ways that were not in harmony with what they believed to be good
mothering? Mothering is a very important aspect of many South Asian immigrant women’s lives and the intersections of mothering work and settlement experience was identified as an important and unique standpoint through which to enter this study. This study used Institutional
Ethnography to explore the everyday work of South Asian immigrant mothers in relation to caring for their children and the manner in which this everyday mothering work is shaped by the various institutional arrangements in society.
Figure 8.1 provides an overview of the findings of this study. Three main spheres of the settlement experience of South Asian immigrant mothers form the focus of this study: the mothers work in relation to employment, household and care of children, and children’s schooling. The research revealed the dominance of a global neoliberal agenda on each of these spheres, impacting the day to day lives of South Asian immigrant women and consequently, their mothering work. The research showed how the mother’s unique intersectional identity influences her ability to navigate the settlement process.
On immigrating to Canada, many immigrants lost their previous class advantage to become part of the burgeoning precariat class. The immigrant mother’s work changes over time to accommodate this changed class status and to prepare her children to participate as
autonomous responsible persons/citizens in a precarious workforce. In doing so she participated in processes that maintain existing relations of race, class and gender in society.
The immigrant mother’s subject location and consequently her mothering work is shaped by the Canadian immigration policy which selects immigrants into the country based on their ability to contribute to the labour market and to improve Canada’s global competitiveness. The South Asian immigrant mother’s work is also shaped by settlement policy which, under
neoliberalism, has become articulated to helping immigrants improve their competiveness in the market economy. The work of the mothers together with the immigration and settlement policies are shaped by larger forces of neoliberalism, mass migration, history (of colonialism) and larger
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relations of race, class and gender. This chapter further details these findings and discusses implications of the findings for the social work profession.
Figure 8.1: The Social Organization of South Asian Immigrant Women’s Mothering Work I began this research by interviewing 20 South Asian immigrant mothers, talking to them about their work in relation to children. During their interviews it became clear that employment or financial related challenges shaped many of the participants work in relation to their families in the settlement context. Most of the participants of the study had immigrated to Canada under the Economic Class, selected for their (and their spouses’) ability to contribute to Canada’s economy. In Canada, the South Asian mothers and their spouses participated actively in text- mediated neoliberal discourses on immigrant employment that clearly place the onus of finding
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work on the immigrant. Most of the participants in this study participated in these discourses by involving themselves in language training (LINC, ESL and Enhanced Language Training), and/or volunteer work, credential assessment job search workshops, and coop placements to overcome barriers (such as lack of Canadian experience, language or recognized credentials) that might be preventing them from finding suitable work. Many of these programs were offered through settlement service agencies, funded by the Government of Canada and Ontario. The work of the settlement industry and the work of all its participants was articulated towards helping immigrants become more able to compete in an increasingly neoliberal economy characterised by a retrenchment of social protections by the government (Graham, Swift & Delaney, 2008; Navarro, 2007), deregulation of labour and financial markets (Navarro, 2007), and, precarious employment (Standing, 2011). The role of the government and its functionaries was to assist individuals to take responsibility for their success in it (Darville, 2014; Clarke, 2004). Clarke (2004) informs us that the neoliberal state aims to produce ‘responsible subjects’ (p. 33) in a wide variety of fields. In this study we see an example of such practices in the Canadian Welfare State of the past downloading responsibility on the immigrant to become ‘employable’ and find work. Ilcan (2009) refers to such neoliberal practices as “privatizing responsibility” (p. 209) and notes that such discourses emphasize individual self-reliance instead of dependence on public resources.
Meritocracy and competitiveness in employment success is a part of capitalism. Neoliberalism intensifies these characteristics of our social organization, where the success of the individual is related to the individual’s work output (Roberts & Mahtani, 2010). Such
discourse does not acknowledge the increasing precariousness of the labour market or the role of systemic barriers―such as ethnic discrimination in hiring ―that might complicate this idealised level playing field for everyone in our society, immigrants or otherwise. Economic immigrants are selected on the basis of their high levels of education and experience. Despite having strong credentials and engaging in activities to improve their competitiveness in the labour market as prescribed by the employment discourse, a majority of the immigrants in this study worked in precarious conditions and continued facing downward economic mobility. The racialization embedded in the neoliberal discourse (Roberts & Mahtani, 2011) allows for structural barriers to continue operating blocking immigrants from their occupations (Standing, 2011). When
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objectified forms of knowledge “demonize” (Standing, 2011) immigrants as different or “deficient” (Shan, 2009; Guo, 2009; Sakamoto et al, 2013) it allows for a justification of immigrants’ lack of success in finding employment and for institutional practices such as language training, soft skills training, volunteering and the like that aim at reducing these differences. South Asian immigrant mothers actively participated in these racialized neo-liberal discourses in relation to employment settlement preparing themselves to become
responsible/autonomous citizens able to work within a precarious labour market. In carrying out such work the immigrant women participate in maintaining existing race, gender and class relations in society.
In Chapter four, we saw how one such kind of objectified knowledge of South Asian immigrants comes to be produced in relation to immigrant parenting. Through the analysis of two set of texts (a booklet for service providers working with immigrants, and media coverage of “honour killings”), I illustrated how some of this objectification of South Asian immigrant families is accomplished. Objectified knowledge about immigrant families serves to “demonize” them as backward, traditional, controlling and oppressive to women and children, allowing justification for the need to monitor and control such “different” families. The ideological conception of the Standard North American Family (White, middle class, nuclear and two parents), and woman’s work within such families as prescribed by North American mothering discourses have historically worked towards perpetuating class and gender relations in society. According to these discourses mothers are vested with the primary responsibility of shaping an autonomous, self-reliant child, who would in turn become the kind of future citizen modern societies rely on. When the SNAF and accompanying mothering discourse are the lenses through which all families are viewed and assessed, particular features of the South Asian immigrant families come to be seen as potentially threatening to ruling relations.
The downward economic mobility experienced by the participants in this study affected their mental health/ sense of well-being and relationships with family members. It also
necessitated lifestyle changes on part of the family, which in turn impacted parenting. When parents were struggling to understand their new contexts they found it difficult to carry out their traditional roles of helping children navigate society. When families split up geographically or when the father worked long hours to make ends meet, the mother often became the sole
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caregiver of the children and her gendered role as homemaker/caregiver was exacerbated. On immigrating, women lost the social support of paid and familial domestic help that allowed for traditional ways of carrying out mothering work. The difficulties faced in finding suitable paid employment made many mothers feel anxious, depressed and stressed which had implications for their work as mothers. Most participants had very little pre-existing social support in Canada, and there was very little awareness or use of formal sources of support for the family.
Immigrating under the Family Class increased vulnerability for some participants within the family.
It was within the turbulent context of precarious employment and downward financial trajectory or “declassing” that the participants carried out their mothering work. Mothering work for participants in this study involved spending large amounts of their time cooking, cleaning the household, teaching children traditions and values, and work in relation to schooling. When participants were socially isolated, had poor English language proficiency and lacked support networks, or when they stayed at home either due to the inability to find work in Canada or due to ideals around the need for a “mother figure” to care for the child, gendered relations in the family were reinforced. In the absence of a larger cultural milieu where children could learn about South Asian culture and religion through immersion, some women took up more
traditional roles and behaviours in the settlement context so that they could teach their children about culture by example. The pressure to do the kind of mothering work described by the participants seemed to come from South Asian discourses around good mothering, internalized by years of observing their own mothers and other mother figures, as well as reinforced through messages in cultural and religious texts. There appeared to be very little influence of the
ongoing transnational connections with family on the day-to-day mothering work.
The mothers’ work made possible conditions that allowed for other members of the family to coordinate their actions with wider institutions. When mothers ensured that food was cooked, and children were picked up from school and dropped off on time she participated in “coordinating the uncoordinated” (Griffith & Smith, 1999) schedules of the school with the labour market.
The South Asian mothering discourses that guided the participants’ work were similar to the North American mothering discourses in stressing the primacy of the mother/mother figure in
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looking after the child; and in expectations of the mother to be sacrificing and caring in putting the needs of the children before her own. Yet, important differences existed. The North
American mothering discourses emphasize raising an autonomous and independent child while the South Asian discourses on mothering discourage this. In Canada, the participants experienced discourses on autonomy and independence to have institutional backing. Both sets of mothering discourses – North American and South Asian - were rooted in very different social, economic, political, and historical processes. In current times, the emphasis on autonomy and independence can be seen as linked to the neoliberal imperative for responsible and autonomous citizens.
Mothers were responsible for ensuring their children’s academic success through the day- to-day management of the work related to schooling. Mothers took on this responsibility
irrespective of their understanding of the system of education followed in Canadian schools or their own English language proficiency. Discourses of individual autonomy underpin
schooling. As seen in Chapter seven, these discourses are tied to national and international economic interests steeped in neoliberal conceptions of the ideal student and worker in an increasingly flexible market economy. Objectified knowledge about South Asian immigrant parenting contributed to the school viewing immigrant mothers’ actions to involve themselves in their child’s schooling decisions as controlling the child, and inhibiting the child’s decision making process. Such parental involvement was discouraged through processes within the school system such as parent teacher interactions and through a report card that merits child’s
independence and decision making. Moreover, the school is a space where immigrants’ language is viewed as something that need to be remedied through institutional processes such as ESL to increase the students’ competiveness in a globalized economy.
Through their interactions with institutions such as Early Childhood Centres or LINC classes and with the school in particular, the participants were becoming aware of the importance of “autonomy” and “independence” that Canadian society placed in relation to children. For the most part the participants could choose to ignore these discourses within the privacy of their homes. However, some mothers had gradually started coordinating their actions with these discourses, despite having misgivings about them. These adaptations often happened: when women were unable to cope with the high demands on their time and energy in carrying out work in relation to their children as prescribed by South Asian discourses without support; in
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response to the larger institutional arrangements that encouraged the child’s autonomy and independence (laws, policies, etc.); and/or when the mothers felt it would help the child to succeed academically. Tejinder’s case study suggests that when the role of institutions is more intrusive (example: child welfare or shelters) the changes expected of the mother in relation to her parenting are more direct and severe.
All the participants of the study were women and racialized. However their level of education, knowledge of the English language, professional qualifications, immigration class (Family Class or Economic Immigrant) and family income created important differences in their settlement experiences. For example, when the family had economic resources they could tap into, the participants were able to participate fully in volunteering and requalifying processes compared to those who did not have this privilege. As we saw in the case of Tejinder, when the participant had low language ability, lacked supportive networks or was sponsored by her husband in the immigration process it increased her vulnerability to domestic violence in the marriage and to possible subsequent intervention by the government in relation to her children. The manner in which participants’ multiple, simultaneous and interrelated oppressions (Baca Zinn & Thornton Dill, 1996) impacted the settlement experiences and mothering work is particularly visible in the case of the participants who were lone mothers. Gayatri and Anjali both raised their children without spousal support. Both had a university education and as working women, with English language proficiency, were able to support themselves and their children. This allowed them a greater degree of freedom in raising their children compared to Tejinder, Samina and Fatima who had low language ability (despite a higher education in Tejinder’s case), were unemployed and who were dependent on the state for their day to day living. As we saw in the case of Tejinder this dependence made their mothering more open to scrutiny and to professional intervention.
Contributions of the Study
The strength of an Institutional Ethnography study is that it allows for an understanding of how things come to be as they are. In the case of this study it allowed for an understanding of the complex factors that impact the settlement process that make immigrant mothers change their
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mothering practices despite having misgivings about the same. This study allowed for an explication of the various invisible processes at work impacting the everyday lives of South Asian immigrant women, and shaping their mothering in the settlement process. It helps us see how marginalization is socially organized (Slade, 2010) for this group. Such understanding is crucial for beginning to think about active acts of resistance to the same.
This study connects with other studies that use an institutional ethnography lens to focus on the mother’s work (DeVault, 1994; Griffith, 1984; Griffith & Smith, 2005;Ingstrup, 2014), and to explore the oppression and marginalization faced by immigrants in the labour market (Maraj Grahame, 1999; Slade, 2008; Ng, 1988; Shan, 2009). This study describes processes through which migration exacerbates gendered relationships. It joins others (Menjivar & Salcido, 2002; Guruge, et al, 2010a, 2010b) in highlighting the increased vulnerability of women in the family in the post-immigration context.
The study makes an important contribution to the scarce literature on mothering in racialized communities and to literature that explores the intersections of mothering and immigrant issues. It is one of the few, if not only study, to combine an ethnographic lens on immigrant women’s mothering work within the settlement context with an exploration of the role of larger discourses within which such work takes place. Unique to this study is the manner in which the work of the mother in the home and outside the home is traced to larger discourses on individual autonomy and self-reliance that serve the interest of the neoliberal economy in which we all participate. The study highlights the resilience and strength of South Asian immigrant women in carrying out their work as immigrants and mothers and the agency the women employ as they adapt to their environment. These are important facets of immigrant settlement that often get sidelined by stories of hardship, stress and despair.
Though we got a glimpse of it in Tejinder’s narrative a trail that was not picked up and followed through closely in this study was the manner in which the mothering work is shaped through involvement in child welfare. Tejinder’s narrative indicates that the mothering work is impacted more severely when institutions such as child welfare and related institutions (police, legal systems, shelters) are involved. Future research can explore specific impacts of surveillance institutions on the mothering experiences of South Asian mothers. Longitudinal research can also compare the mothering practices of immigrant women who have been in the country for
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varied periods of time to understand the impact of long term integration (if any) on the mothering work of immigrant women.
Implications for Social Work
The newcomers in this study had interactions with a few prominent settlement service agencies. These agencies likely had staff who were either trained social workers or social service workers. Seven participants of this study attended LINC classes run through such services. Through these classes the participants learned about Canada and the laws and expectations related to parenting. Many other participants attended job search workshops, or bridging programs run by settlement service agencies. Here they learned about the importance of networking, resume writing and volunteering. The settlement service programs the participants engaged were prescribed to a large extent by funding from the Governments of Canada and Ontario. As we have seen in this research, these government funded programs were articulated to the interests of creating the ideal worker for a neoliberal economy and in maintaining the power dynamics of existing relations of race/gender/class relations in society. Social work (in the broadest sense of the word) is
complicit in this.
The participants who had child welfare involvement and/or were on Ontario Works