A mother’s hope in the midst of existential immobility from state and stigma

Bibliographic Data

ID19002182
AuthorsKatherine E Smith (0000-0002-1060-4102, Social Anthropology, University of Manchester, UK [email protected]), Katherine Smith (0000-0001-7471-0708, University of Manchester, corresponding author)
Year2021
Volume2021
Issue90
Pages36-46
Publication date2021-05-21
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueFocaal (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0920-1297 • E-ISSN: 1558-5263
PublisherBerghahn Books (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.3167/fcl.2021.900104
OpenAlexW3163160096
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited18

The article is situated ethnographically in households on the main social housing estate in Harpurhey, North Manchester, England. It explores the affective dynamics of motherhood and imaginations of the future with a backdrop of prolonged government disinvestment. We follow the experiences of a mother and her son as they deal with moments of uncertainty and attempt to imagine and prepare for his future free from dependence on state welfare. Considering that parenting marks time in the most intimate of ways and it confronts parents with the passing of time in terms of biological “growth” that sequences time for us, this article addresses how and at what points dependence on the state, over time, reconfigures the affective dynamics of motherhood and imaginations of familial dependencies into the future

Disinvestment · Existentialism · Political science · Situated · Sociology · Foucault, Power, and Ethics · Gender Studies · Homelessness and Social Issues · Law · Psychology · Youth Education and Societal Dynamics

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