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Paper short abstract

This paper examines wartime mobility through the experiences of mothers who fled an ongoing war with their children. Drawing on ethnographic research, it explores how care, responsibility, and temporary forms of belonging are organized across borders amid uncertainty.

Paper long abstract

Wars and armed conflicts increasingly reshape family life through displacement, separation, and uncertainty. This paper examines wartime mobility through the experiences of mothers who relocate with their children under conditions of conflict. Based on ethnographic research conducted during an ongoing war, including interviews, participant observation, and analysis of digital communication platforms, the paper explores how mothers navigate decisions of flight, care, and belonging across borders.

Many of the women described themselves as “privileged refugees,” a term they used to articulate the tension between experiences of threat and access to mobility, resources, and legal protection. While their movement was framed as temporary, it gave rise to provisional communities organized around care, safety, and the maintenance of children’s everyday routines.

The paper highlights ambivalence surrounding departure, shaped by fear, responsibility, and moral obligation, as well as the practical considerations that shape mobility choices. It further examines how digital platforms function as key infrastructures for coordinating information, enabling mutual aid, and sustaining family life across militarized borders.