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Paradoxes in the Mobile Parenting Experiences of Filipino Mothers in Diaspora

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Mobile Communication and the Family

Abstract

This chapter illuminates the paradoxes in the mobile parenting experiences of Filipino mothers in diaspora as it describes the attempts of these migrant mothers to parent their children in spite of their spatial and temporal separation. Three pairs of paradoxes were uncovered from the author’s analysis of the interviews conducted among 32 Singapore-based Filipino working mothers about their mediated parenting experiences: the independence/dependence paradox, competence/incompetence paradox, and empowerment/enslavement paradox. The exposed paradoxes indicate that the mobile parenting experiences of these migrant mothers are not entirely celebratory as positive mediated experiences coexist with negative ones. And yet, for these migrant mothers, even though mobile parenting engenders paradoxes in mediated experiences, they nonetheless regard it as the best response to the situation imposed by their transnational separation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines

    Ma. Rosel S. San Pascual

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  1. Ma. Rosel S. San Pascual
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Correspondence to Ma. Rosel S. San Pascual .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept of Communications and New Medi, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    Sun Sun Lim

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San Pascual, M.R.S. (2016). Paradoxes in the Mobile Parenting Experiences of Filipino Mothers in Diaspora. In: Lim, S. (eds) Mobile Communication and the Family. Mobile Communication in Asia: Local Insights, Global Implications. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-7441-3_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-7441-3_9

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-017-7439-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-017-7441-3

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