Contribution short abstract:

This paper examines how Latinas in San Diego build networks for career support and mutual psychological aid. It explores how these networks foster resilience and prepare participants for capitalist market challenges, while also standardizing behaviors and imposing conformity pressures.

Contribution long abstract:

Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in San Diego, this paper explores how Latinas striving for social upward mobility in the US-American society build networks to support women in their career paths and to learn from successful role models. In these networks, practical skills and knowledge are shared, and a sense of community is established. Many of these groups also emphasize mutual psychological support and address both individual and collective hardships and traumas arising from personal experiences as well as collective experiences of racism and sexism. In these groups, self-help is collectively organized by creating spaces for the expression and recognition of psychological distress. Additionally, these groups invite experts who draw on various spiritual, religious, cultural, and psychological resources to engage participants in collective practices of 'taking care,' 'healing,' and 'recovering.' This aims to find acceptance of common burdens, to create awareness of shared hardships and to strengthen resilience. In the context of career development, however, it is also about preparing participants for the challenges of the capitalist market and imparting positive attitudes toward life, which are deemed necessary for social mobility. This paper problematizes how the commoning of traumatic experiences and the commoning of practices of care create community and belonging but also foster standardization and impose pressure on individuals.