ABSTRACT
This chapter foregrounds the intersections of migration and motherhood in the lives of women mothering away from ‘home’ after migrating to Australia. Migration and motherhood instigate a dual disruption of women’s social infrastructure at the precise time their need for support, advice, information, empathy and companionship increases. In response, migrant mothers in Australia use the affordances of social media platforms to create localised online communities. Drawing on a rich dataset of interviews with migrant mothers from a range of ethnic communities (including Indian, Malaysian, Swedish, German, Brazilian, and British), this chapter extends existing research identifying the need for tailored social support for migrant mothers, by analysing the kinds of support migrant mothers create for themselves. In the context of gendered norms of parenting and sociality, in which mothers remain responsible for the affective settlement of their family after migration, this chapter argues that participation in these online communities constitutes a gendered settlement practice (Manohar, 2013). Deploying an intersectional matricentric feminist framework, emphasising maternal agency and practices at the intersections of migration, ethnicity and motherhood, the chapter shows how migrant mothers navigate the intersections of migration and motherhood, forming networks of support based on intersecting contextual maternal identities, and enacting maternal projects which have been altered by migration. It provides insights for policy-makers and practitioners working with migrant mothers into the needs of migrant mothers beyond the postnatal period, and the potential for migrant maternal online communities to meet these needs. By focusing on the agency of the mothers who create, curate and participate in these online communities, this chapter challenges deficit discourses surrounding migrant mothers and highlights the unpaid emotional, social and technical labour involved in creating and maintaining the communities.
