Cultural Capital, Motherhood Capital, and Low-income Immigrant Mothers’ Institutional Negotiations

• In Event: 239 - Regular Session. Immigrants, Institutions, and Incorporation

Abstract

This study contributes to understandings of immigrant incorporation in the US. Complementing the research on immigrants’ exclusion from most US service institutions as well as their “bureaucratic incorporation,” my study discusses the informal barriers immigrants face after gaining formal access to service institutions. Using the concepts of cultural capital and institutional environment and drawing on 25 in-depth interviews, I compare low-income Mexican immigrant mothers’ caretaking experiences across two settings: at schools and in healthcare facilities. These mothers’ interactions with school personnel featured the experiences of “emergent alliance.” When advocating for their children at healthcare facilities, they reported a mixture of “successful confrontations” and “blocked negotiations.” I analyze how the two settings placed different demands for cultural capital on these mothers while offering different opportunities for their usage of “motherhood capital.” My findings suggest that certain institutional features can lessen immigrants’ cultural capital disadvantages. The conclusion discusses implications of these findings.

Author

• Ming-Cheng M. Lo, University of California-Davis