Paper short abstract:

Based on ethnography of the migrant reception system and welfare in Italy, I will investigate affection and the intimate dimension of motherhood by observing African diaspora reproductive stereotypes but also mothers’ capacity to aspire, and invisible social ties among autochthonous and migrants.

Paper long abstract:

Inspired by the notion of affective circuits (Cole, Groes 2016), I explore how this notion might be applied to children born in migration (0-5 years) and West African mothers – asylum or international protection seekers – who crossed the Mediterranean and arrived in Bologna (Italy). In this paper, based on ethnography carried out in Bologna since 2018, I analyze maternity experiences, ideas of relatedness and opportunities offered by the local context, welfare and the migrant reception system in the contingent time of the new Decree Laws on migration and Covid-19 rules and related surveillance effects. By looking at reception practices as historical and social artifacts, I investigate affection and the intimate dimension of motherhood as a space to observe African diaspora reproductive stereotypes but also mothers’ capacity to aspire, ideas of freedom, and new and invisible social relations among autochthonous residents and migrants.