Negotiating 'ideal worker' and intensive mothering ideologies: Australian mothers' emotional geographies during their commutes

Individualized, maternalist and marketized discourses of childcare are pervasive in Australia as they are in other liberal welfare states. Responsibility is overwhelmingly placed on mothers to carry out most childcare work themselves or to arrange informal or paid childcare. One of the key tasks for most employed mothers is transporting children alongside their commuting journeys. In this context we used mapping/graphic elicitation interviews with 45 Australian employed mothers to explore their commuting experiences through the lens of emotional geographies. Our findings reveal that mothers' experiences of their commutes were shaped by negotiations with intensive mothering and 'ideal worker' ideologies during this journey resulting in emotions of guilt, shame and stress. The spatial and temporal organization of childcare, and incompatibilities between their commuting transport needs and the organization of public transport and parking, tended to amplify these tensions. Through an emotional geographies lens we complicate linear understandings of commuting and mainstream transport and planning work, while calling for more attention to the affective and relational dimensions of mothers' everyday geographies of care and paid work.

Automated summary

Individualized, maternalist and marketized discourses of childcare are prevalent in Australia. Mothers are primarily responsible for childcare, either doing the work themselves or arranging informal or paid childcare. One significant task for employed mothers is taking care of children during their commute. Our study with 45 Australian employed mothers using mapping/graphic elicitation interviews reveals that their commuting experiences are influenced by negotiations with intensive mothering and 'ideal worker' ideologies, resulting in feelings of guilt, shame, and stress. Spatial and temporal organization of childcare, as well as incompatibilities between commuting transport needs and public transport and parking, contribute to these tensions. Taking an emotional geographies perspective, we challenge linear understandings of commuting and mainstream transport and planning work, and emphasize the importance of considering emotional and relational dimensions in mothers' everyday geographies of care and paid work.