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Motherhood, Neoliberalism, Religion and Migration: Emotional Labour and the Parameters of Good Motherhood

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Abstract

The processes of neoliberalism that raise the stakes of schooling and polarise access to different educational sites have worked to increase anxieties and confirm emotional and domestic labour as a moral responsibility assigned to women. This chapter argues that the reserves of cultural and emotional capital required for effective participation in children’s education can be both consolidated and diminished through the process of migration. Perceived ineffective involvement comes at a heavy emotional price, threatening some women’s perceptions of themselves as ‘good’ mothers. This chapter provides fresh insights into the experiences and perception of Islamic and non-western motherhood that are challenged and may be seen as inferior in relation to the dominant (Western) social construction and discursive prescriptions of good mothering. This chapter also discusses the ways in which most fathers are absent from the care work of parental involvement and the ways women perceive their work of parental involvement and the ways women perceive their partners’ involvement.

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Correspondence to Taghreed Jamal Al-deen .

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Jamal Al-deen, T. (2019). Motherhood, Neoliberalism, Religion and Migration: Emotional Labour and the Parameters of Good Motherhood. In: Motherhood, Education and Migration. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-32-9429-5_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-32-9429-5_5

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-32-9428-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-32-9429-5

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