Senegalese migration to Spain: transnational mothering practices

This article analyses the relationship between pre-migration fostering practices and the transnational strategies of a group of Senegalese mothers living in Spain. In Senegal, large households, residential separation of couples, and collective fostering are the norm; it is not unusual for children to be under the care of women other than their mother, even for long periods of time. Drawing from data collected during 2 years of transnational multi-sited fieldwork that followed Senegalese mothers between their households of origin and destination, we argue that these women sought to reproduce the Senegalese mainstream mothering ideology in Spain. They did this by adopting two main strategies: long-distance mothering and circular mothering. These strategies were used depending on the age of the child, the constraints imposed on mother and children by migration legislation, and the social capital available to the migrant. This article seeks to integrate a wider range of experiences and the influence of pre-migratory mothering ideologies, kinship systems, and household structures on transnational mothering practices into the existing literature on transnational mothering.