The Intersection of Childhood Disability and Migration in Family Lives

Abstract

Disability studies and migrant studies have largely operated on different tracks. Despite the growing diversity within Icelandic society, little is known about the lives of migrant families with disabled children living there. Inspired by critical disability studies, migrant studies and Bourdieu’s concepts of capital and field, we focused on the daily experiences of three migrant mothers of disabled children and their encounters with the Icelandic service system. The migrant women’s experiences reflected their diverse positions and needs in terms of their participation and possibilities to use their resources to build upon and apply their social and cultural capital. Initially, all three intended to stay temporarily in Iceland, but the intersection of the birth of their disabled children, their possibilities for balancing work and care, as well as their experiences with the service system, ultimately affected their decision to stay or leave. The paper concludes with a call for a more nuanced understanding of the intersection between disability and migration in family lives.

Keywords

• critical disability studies
• migration studies
• bourdieu
• everyday lives
• services