Pakistani Mothers in a Diverse Borough in Oslo, Norway
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Here, now and into the future: Child rearing among Norwegian- Pakistani mothers in a diverse borough in Oslo, Norway. Ida Erstad Department of Social Anthropology University of Oslo, Norway Series of dissertations submitted to the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Oslo No. 559 Acknowledgements access to ‘the field’. In families, I have been positively struck by informants’ trust – Cultural complexity in the suburb: the centripetal and centrifugal forces of locality and place – Steven Vertovec. The ‘fight club’ at MPI provided fruitful feedback on the very first draft of or the thesis. For much of my project period I’ve had the privilege of being included in the ‘migrationgroup’ at Norwegian Social Research (NOVA). ‘done’ and ‘redone’ in our household, and it is my turn now to learn how to use the vacuum Summary s ethnically diverse, and half of the borough’s 50 000 families’ homes in Norway and Pakistan combined approach, investigating ‘group’ (transnational) and place (diversity), opens up for h allows for a range of diversities and disagreements, can bring about a convivial ‘sense of community’ Exploring mothers’ more so their children’s mothers’ likestilling Contents Chapter 1 ................................................................................................................................................. 1 Background of the study and theoretical orientation ............................................................................. 1 Aims and motivations of the study ..................................................................................................... 7 Theoretical orientations .................................................................................................................... 10 Concepts of personhood ................................................................................................................... 11 Understanding and studying childhood ............................................................................................ 16 Socialisation: Children as beings and becomings .......................................................................... 17 Models and practice .......................................................................................................................... 19 Understanding practices, changes and continuities through models ........................................... 20 Gender models and perspectives ...................................................................................................... 23 Understanding governing in a diverse context ................................................................................. 26 Social change: Mothering the future ................................................................................................ 28 Migrant motherhood ..................................................................................................................... 31 Mothering in diversity ................................................................................................................... 33 The thesis in a nutshell ...................................................................................................................... 35 Chapter 2 ............................................................................................................................................... 39 Alna borough: place and people ........................................................................................................... 39 Alna borough in the Grorud Valley of Oslo ....................................................................................... 40 Roots and diversity ........................................................................................................................ 43 Living in the ghetto? ...................................................................................................................... 45 Alna as a local community ............................................................................................................. 50 Transnationalism, integration and super-diversity ....................................................................... 55 Conclusions ........................................................................................................................................ 59 Chapter 3 ............................................................................................................................................... 61 The research ‘audit trail’ ................................................................................................................... 62 My informants and arenas of participation ...................................................................................... 64 Family Centres ............................................................................................................................... 66 Some implications of choice of arenas and informants ................................................................ 69 Gaining access ................................................................................................................................... 74 Informed consent and confidentiality ........................................................................................... 76 Knowledge production .................................................................................................................. 78 Critiquing an anthropology ‘at home’ ............................................................................................... 80 ‘Groupism’ and ‘at home’ in a diverse place ................................................................................. 81 Transnational homes and fields .................................................................................................... 82 Positionality: Beyond dichotomies .................................................................................................... 84 Positions: Vertical/horizontal and spatial/temporal ..................................................................... 86 Children in and to the field ............................................................................................................ 90 Conclusions ........................................................................................................................................ 93 Chapter 4 ............................................................................................................................................... 95 Family practices, models and policies ................................................................................................... 95 Diaspora Pakistanis: migration and life worlds ................................................................................. 96 Social class and education ............................................................................................................. 99 Employment and generation ....................................................................................................... 101 Property ownership and household composition ....................................................................... 104 Moral contracts: Interpersonal duties ............................................................................................ 106 Marriage: Good rishtas ................................................................................................................ 107 Structure and organisation: Choice in marriage partner ............................................................ 110 Approaching changes and continuities ........................................................................................... 115 Generations: temporal and spatial, relational and dynamics ..................................................... 116 State discourse: Two family models ................................................................................................ 120 De-familialisation and integration ............................................................................................... 121 Governing the family: Financial incentives ................................................................................. 124 Conclusions ...................................................................................................................................... 127 Chapter 5 ............................................................................................................................................. 131 Motherhood and mothering in a migration context ........................................................................... 131 Becoming parents and changing relationships ............................................................................... 135 The ‘complete family’: Family size and sex of children ............................................................... 137 Reproductive health: knowledge and management ....................................................................... 140 Managing reproduction 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