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Cited by 1,414Migration and Labor DynamicsWork-Family Balance ChallengesIntergenerational Family Dynamics and Caregiving

“I'M HERE, BUT I'M THERE”: The Meanings of Latina Transnational Motherhood

HONDAGNEU-SOTELO, PIERRETTE, AVILA, ERNESTINE·1997·Gender & Society
DOI 10.1177/089124397011005003
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Abstract

Latina immigrant women who work as nannies or housekeepers and reside in Los Angeles while their children remain in their countries of origin constitute one variation in the organizational arrangements of motherhood. The authors call this arrangement “transnational motherhood.” On the basis of a survey, in-depth interviews, and ethnographic materials gathered in Los Angeles, they examine how Latina immigrant domestic workers transform the meanings of motherhood to accommodate these spatial and temporal separations. The article examines the emergent meanings of motherhood and alternative child-rearing arrangements. It also discusses how the women view motherhood in relation to their employment, as well as their strategies for selectively developing emotional ties with their employers' children and for creating new rhetorics of mothering standards on the basis of what they view in their employers' homes.

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Crossref · 10.1177/089124397011005003

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  • Historically, migrants have been constructed as individual units of labour by Global North receiving states, and their family and care needs were accorded little or no recognition.

    “Historically, migrants have been constructed as individual units of labour by Global North receiving states, and their family and care needs were accorded little or no recognition.”

    From Conditioning grandparent care-labour mobility at the care-migration systems nexus: Australia and the UK (2024) · cites this paper as Hondagneu-Sotelo and Avila 1997

  • Temporary recruitment schemes for low-skilled labour in parts of Europe and North America in the middle of the twentieth century represent archetypal examples of constructing migrants as individual units of labour.

    “The temporary recruitment schemes for low-skilled labour in parts of Europe and North America in the middle of the twentieth century represent archetypal examples of this (Castles 2006; Hondagneu-Sotelo and Avila 1997).”

    From Conditioning grandparent care-labour mobility at the care-migration systems nexus: Australia and the UK (2024) · cites this paper as Hondagneu-Sotelo and Avila 1997

  • Transnational family studies generally concentrate on how family relationships are sustained within nuclear families, notably between migrant parents and their children who stay behind in the country of origin.

    “Transnational family studies generally concentrate on how family relationships are sustained within nuclear families, notably between migrant parents and their children who stay behind in the country of origin (Hoang and Yeoh 2012;Hondagneu-Sotelo and Avila 1997;Parreñas 2005;Schmalzbauer 2004).”

    From Navigating transnational childcare relationships: migrant parents and their children's caregivers in the origin country (2017) · cites this paper as Hondagneu-Sotelo and Avila 1997

  • Scholarly work has focused primarily on how relationships are sustained in nuclear family units, and the dynamics and practices involved in creating care arrangements in extended care networks and maintaining relationships between migrant parents and caregivers have received scant attention in transnational family literature.

    “The dynamics and practices involved in creating care arrangements in extended care networks and maintaining relationships between migrant parents and caregivers has been given scant attention in transnational family literature (Mazzucato and Schans 2011); or, if it is signalled as important, it is not the focus of analysis (Hondagneu-Sotelo and Avila 1997;Schmalzbauer 2004).”

    From Navigating transnational childcare relationships: migrant parents and their children's caregivers in the origin country (2017) · cites this paper as Hondagneu-Sotelo and Avila 1997

  • Grandmothers, or in a few cases a migrant's previous foster mother, are the preferred caregivers, as in national fostering arrangements and transnational families elsewhere.

    “Consequently, grandmothers, or in a few cases a migrant's previous foster mother, are the preferred caregivers, as in national fostering arrangements (Verhoef 2005) and transnational families elsewhere (Dreby 2010;Hondagneu-Sotelo and Avila 1997).”

    From Navigating transnational childcare relationships: migrant parents and their children's caregivers in the origin country (2017) · cites this paper as Hondagneu-Sotelo and Avila 1997

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Authors
HONDAGNEU-SOTELO, P., & AVILA, E.
Affiliations
  • University of Southern California
  • University of Southern California (US)
Venue
Gender & Society
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Published
1997-10
Volume
11
Issue
5
Pages
548-571
ISSN
  • 0891-2432 (ISSN-L)
  • 1552-3977
DOI
10.1177/089124397011005003
OpenAlex
W2098105587
Cited by
1,414
References
44
Citations by year
2026: 34 · 2025: 42 · 2024: 33 · 2023: 75 · 2022: 40 · 2021: 52 · 2020: 61 · 2019: 62 · 2018: 80 · 2017: 71 · 2016: 80 · 2015: 79 · 2014: 76 · 2013: 97 · 2012: 91
FWCI
29.87
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license (tdm)
Locations
Gender & Society (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Migration and Labor Dynamics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Work-Family Balance Challenges
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Intergenerational Family Dynamics and Caregiving
Keywords
transnational motherhood, Latina immigrant women, domestic workers, nannies, housekeepers, motherhood, immigrant labor, Los Angeles

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