Leah Schmalzbauer

Central Themes in the Study of Transnational Parenthood

This article reviews the emerging literature on transnational parenthood, concentrating on six themes: gender, care arrangements, legislation, class, communication and moralities. Gender concerns not only the distinction between transnational motherhood and transnational fatherhood, but also the role of childrens gender and the broader networks of gender relations within which transnational parenthood is practised. Care arrangements are often the most tangible challenge for transnational parents, and an area where material and emotional concerns intersect. The third theme, legislation, primarily concerns how immigration law can be decisive for separation and the prospects for reunification, as well as for the practice of parenthood from afar. Analysis of class can help us to understand differences in how transnational parenthood is practised and experienced. Communication across long distances is a defining element in the everyday practice of transnational parenthood, shaped by the intersection of technological, economic and psychological factors. The final theme, moralities, concerns the ways in which context-specific behavioural norms guide transnational parenthood. We subsequently discuss how the age of children is an important differentiating factor in the experience of transnational parenthood. In addition to these thematic discussions, we address methodological issues in the study of the phenomenon. Throughout, we emphasise both the limitations and the dynamism of transnational parenthood as it is experienced and practised in different contexts and throughout the life course.

Gender on a New Frontier: Mexican Migration in the Rural Mountain West

In this article, the author draws from ethnographic field work with Mexican migrants in southwestern Montana, an emerging rural settlement of the Mountain West, to analyze the ways in which context of reception affects gender relations. The author constructs the analysis by looking at gender in terms of three primary elements of migrant incorporation: (1) employment, (2) geography, and (3) culture. The author finds that in Montana traditional gender relations are typically fortified or reintroduced through the migration process, often to the detriment of women. Yet women remain optimistic about their lives because they believe that in Montana they can be better mothers, providing safety and opportunities for their children that they could not provide elsewhere. The data challenge theorizing from urban settlements and highlight the significance of context of reception for constructions of gender and women’s experiences of power.

Researching Inequality Through Interpretive Collaborations Shifting Power and the Unspoken Contract

Researchers committed to feminist participatory research must grapple with power and vulnerability—both those of other people as well as their own. In this article, the authors argue that in the current context of sharp economic disparity, political polarization, and global conflict, researchers must undertake collaborative and even risk-taking social inquiry in order to learn about alternative lives. The authors highlight the importance of using a feminist participatory methodology with a focus on the interpretive process. Drawing on field research, they explore an innovative approach to analyzing meaning through interpretive focus groups as “safer space.” The following questions are raised: Is there an ethical way to inquire into habits of life that are intentionally kept hidden? And even if individual confidentiality is ensured, what about collective confidentiality and the obligations that researchers have in a context of increasing inequality?

Community-based participatory research with Mexican migrants in a new rural destination: A good fit?

In this article, we offer our reflections on our community-based participatory research (CBPR) project in partnership with Mexican migrants in a new rural destination of the Rocky Mountain West. To set the stage for our work, we first present the Montana migration context – a unique context in which the migrant community is hard to define, locate, and engage. Next, we present who we are and how we forged a partnership with Mexican migrants in Montana. We then provide the details of our project – Salud y Comunidad: Latinos en Montana – and reflect on the pragmatic and ethical challenges of using a CBPR approach in this context. Finally, we attempt to reframe some of the tensions and paradoxes inherent in community-based work with vulnerable communities and reflect on the question, ‘is CBPR a good fit?’ We aim for our analysis to contribute a unique perspective to the rich discussions underway about using CBPR to ameliorate health disparities and promote justice in marginalized communities.

Placing Assimilation Theory: Mexican Immigrants in Urban and Rural America:

Assimilation theory typically conceptualizes native whites in metropolitan areas as the mainstream reference group to which immigrants’ adaptation is compared. Yet the majority of the U.S. population will soon be made up of ethnoracial minorities. The rise of new immigrant destinations has contributed to this demographic change in rural areas, in addition to already-diverse cities. In this article, we argue that assimilation is experienced in reference to the demographic populations within urban and rural destinations as well as the physical geography of these places. We analyze and compare the experiences of rural Mexicans who immigrated to urban Southern California and rural Montana, demonstrating the ways in which documentation status in the United States and the rurality of immigrants’ communities of origin in Mexico shape assimilation in these two destinations.