Racialized citizenship, respectability and mothering among Caribbean mothers in Britain

Journal article


Bauer, E (2017). Racialized citizenship, respectability and mothering among Caribbean mothers in Britain. Ethnic and Racial Studies. 41 (1), pp. 151-169. https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2017.1317826
AuthorsBauer, E
Abstract

Abstract Holy matrimony, nuclear family, attending church, education and good manners are typical markers of respectability. These Victorian middle-class ideological values were transported to the British Caribbean region after emancipation of slavery by missionaries and priests aiming to “civilize” the ex-slaves. As social values they were often transformed or met in opposition with a more complex set of cultural and social values within Caribbean creole communities. Overtime, however, some individuals adopted these Euro-centric values, thus prescribing to a form of racialized citizenship. Upon migration to Britain in the 1960s, some migrant mothers endeavoured to transmit these values among their children, in an effort to integrate and develop a sense of identity and belonging, but also as modes of resistance to experiences of racism and discrimination. This paper illustrates the tensions experienced by two migrant Caribbean mothers, and their concerns that the social values of respectability are being lost among their offspring.

KeywordsCaribbean migrant mothers; serial migration; “normativity”; racialized citizenship; social values; respectability and class
Year2017
JournalEthnic and Racial Studies
Journal citation41 (1), pp. 151-169
PublisherRoutledge
ISSN0141-9870
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2017.1317826
Publication dates
Print31 May 2017
Publication process dates
Deposited03 Apr 2017
Accepted29 Mar 2017
Accepted author manuscript
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Open
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