Many ways to care: mobility, gender and childcare in the Gauteng City Region, South Africa
Topics: Gender
, Social Geography
, Africa
Keywords: care, parenting, mobility, spatial footrpints, gender
Session Type: Virtual Paper
Day: Friday
Session Start / End Time: 4/9/2021 03:05 PM (Pacific Time (US & Canada)) - 4/9/2021 04:20 PM (Pacific Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 31
Authors:
Alexandra Parker, Gauteng City-Region Observatory
Margot Rubin, Wits University
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Abstract
Despite growing scholarship recognising every-day mobility and the manifestations of geographies of children and their carers, their practices are still under-researched and largely viewed as deviations from the norm (Grant-Smith, Osborne, & Johnson, 2017). Cultural expectations, socio-economic conditions, age and ethnicity, amongst other intersectional factors, influence how “care” is understood and practised in different households and individuals. Based on significant fieldwork in 4 communities across the Gauteng city-region, South Africa over a period of 9 months and using a mixed-method approach, this paper maps and interrogates the relationship between parenting, gender roles and mobility. The method comprised focus groups, qualitative interviews as well as an innovative mobility tracking app on smartphones. In addition, the method included extensive use of the online communication platform, WhatsApp, to create a group with community participants where the intention was to build a network of support for participants, ensure mutual support, and assist with any technical issues related to the mobility app. The paper demonstrates how geography and questions of gender roles and parenting interface to construct daily modes of travel. The research demonstrates the motivations behind mobility choices and drivers of spatial footprints for men and women engaged in childcare. We argue that the ideas of what constitutes a good parent have physical manifestations and spatial implications, which need to be understood and considered at both a theoretical and policy level, noting that it is these micro-dynamics that agglomerate into the spatial and travel patterns that can be seen across the Gauteng city-region.
