Shaping (Modern) Mothers in Palomitáy

Abstract

This chapter focuses on daily life in the residence and examines the ways that Palomitáy shapes caring by and caring for young mothers. Drawing on Morgan and Roberts’s concept of “reproductive governance,” the chapter describes the mundane practices and modes of caring for infants and toddlers as well as opportunities offered to young mothers, including formal education and enrichment activities. The support offered by Palomitáy may remove young women from precarious and even dangerous circumstances and enable girls to pursue aspirations for the future. Simultaneously, these opportunities and orientations govern care and are saturated by relationships of hierarchy, including racialized discourses of modernity and affective interaction between mother and child.