Cohort: SOMET 42

Topic of the thesis: Becoming mothers across generations: negotiating care, family and parenthood among women raised in migrant families 

Abstract: This project investigates motherhood among second-generation women of North African origin raised in Italy, focusing on how parenting practices are shaped through the interaction of intergenerational transmission, migration experiences, and social inequality. While research on second generations in Italy has largely concentrated on education, integration, and transitions to adulthood, and studies on migrant motherhood have focused primarily on first-generation women, motherhood among second-generation women remains largely unexplored.  Drawing on sociological and anthropological perspectives on family change, migration, and care, the project examines motherhood as a key life-course transition through which inherited family models are reproduced, negotiated, or transformed. Particular attention is devoted to the mother-daughter relationship and to the interplay between cultural transmission and the structural conditions shaping parenthood.  The study adopts a qualitative and ethnographic approach, combining in-depth interviews and participant observation. By analysing motherhood as a site where family change, migration processes, and social inequalities intersect, the project contributes to a deeper understanding of intergenerational dynamics in contemporary post-migratory societies.

Research interests: Migration studies; sociology and anthropology of family; second generation studies; gender studies; qualitative research methods

Graduated from: Università degli Studi di Bologna

Degrees obtained: BA in Philosophy; MA in Cultural Anthropology and Ethnology

E-mail address:  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.