A dance of ambiguous constructions: White South African transracial adoptive and foster mothers’ discourses on race

Abstract

‘Transracial’ adoption and fostering offer fertile ground for exploring how constructions of race can operate. This qualitative study engaged in a discourse analysis of interviews with 17 South African mothers identifying as White who have adopted and who foster transracially. Focus was placed on how they talk about race through their discussions of mothering. Findings highlight how race is constructed largely in an ambivalent manner and how aversive racism can coexist with intentionally devoted mothering. Some mothers in this study, however, do assume a consciously reflexive stance in their deconstruction of race.