Navigating inherited “intensive surveillance” within Japan's structural norms of autonomy: maternal identity negotiation among long-term Peruvian migrant mothers (1990–2025)
- 1Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Okayama University, Okayama, Japan
- 2Faculty of Education, Okayama University, Okayama, Japan
Abstract
Introduction: This study examines how Peruvian mothers who have settled in Japan for decades rework their identities as mothers. These women were raised with the belief that being a good mother means constantly watching over and protecting their children. But in Japan, child-rearing pushes children toward independence from a young age. This study asks: What happens when these two different approaches of mothering meet?
Methods: We interviewed 21 Peruvian mothers who had lived in Japan for 17–35 years.
Results: The analysis identified four identity positions to this cultural friction. The first is holding firmly to Peruvian maternal scripts (“Ideological Retention”). The second is following Japanese conventions in public while keeping Peruvian ways at home (“Compartmentalization”). The third is moving away from inherited protective scripts and adopting Japanese norms of independence (“Assimilation”). The fourth is blending elements of both into a maternal self that is “neither the one nor the other” (a “Third Space”).
Discussion: This study helps us understand that migrant mothers do not simply choose between their home and new cultures. Instead, they actively work to create a way of mothering through a process we call Reflexive Continuity that makes sense for their unique situations.
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BibTeX
@article{palomino2026navigating,
title = {{Navigating inherited “intensive surveillance” within Japan's structural norms of autonomy: maternal identity negotiation among long-term Peruvian migrant mothers (1990–2025)}},
author = {Katia Sara Huaman Palomino and Yoshitsugu Hirata},
journal = {Frontiers in Sociology},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3389/fsoc.2026.1944754},
url = {https://doi.org/10.3389/fsoc.2026.1944754},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Navigating inherited “intensive surveillance” within Japan's structural norms of autonomy: maternal identity negotiation among long-term Peruvian migrant mothers (1990–2025)
AU - Katia Sara Huaman Palomino
AU - Yoshitsugu Hirata
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/12
JO - Frontiers in Sociology
DO - 10.3389/fsoc.2026.1944754
UR - https://doi.org/10.3389/fsoc.2026.1944754
AB - Introduction: This study examines how Peruvian mothers who have settled in Japan for decades rework their identities as mothers. These women were raised with the belief that being a good mother means constantly watching over and protecting their children. But in Japan, child-rearing pushes children toward independence from a young age. This study asks: What happens when these two different approaches of mothering meet? Methods: We interviewed 21 Peruvian mothers who had lived in Japan for 17–35 years. Results: The analysis identified four identity positions to this cultural friction. The first is holding firmly to Peruvian maternal scripts (“Ideological Retention”). The second is following Japanese conventions in public while keeping Peruvian ways at home (“Compartmentalization”). The third is moving away from inherited protective scripts and adopting Japanese norms of independence (“Assimilation”). The fourth is blending elements of both into a maternal self that is “neither the one nor the other” (a “Third Space”). Discussion: This study helps us understand that migrant mothers do not simply choose between their home and new cultures. Instead, they actively work to create a way of mothering through a process we call Reflexive Continuity that makes sense for their unique situations.
SN - 2297-7775
ER -