Publisher's Synopsis
Focusing on motherhood and the home as a site where citizenship is negotiated, this book draws on in-depth ethnographic research to study home encounters between new migrants and street level bureaucrats. It demonstrates how notions of public and private space are being reworked through increasing diffusion of state power to front-line service providers and presents the perspectives of largely disenfranchised individuals in relation to the others they encounter in their homes. Migrant Experiences of Encounters in the Home considers how new migrants from small groups without any previous connection to their place of arrival make their homes in a rapidly shifting urban area. The study focuses on Luton, a city with a long history of migration. The author shows how this group was subject to different local attention and bureaucratic practices and focuses on the realm of motherhood as the fieldwork revealed that the home and particularly interactions with mothers were the primary site where negotiations about rights and entitlements took place. Revealing how gendered and racialized hierarchies affect both service providers and new migrants, this book provides in-depth insights into the complex negotiations and tensions that occur. It also considers the politics and policies of the local area in a time of austerity and legal change through interviews with local government officials, frontline actors, and volunteers. It is therefore a timely addition to the literature as the UK withdraws from the European Union. The book will reflect on these changes and the potential consequences for new migrants and service providers alike.
