Building a Transnational Network of Capitals: Korean Immigrant Mothers of Children with Disabilities in an Online Forum

Abstract

ABSTRACT This online ethnographic study illuminates how Korean immigrant mothers of children with disabilities use their capitals to communicate, build community, and share resources in an online space. Employing the construct of community cultural wealth (CCW), we analyzed posts and comments by the mothers in an online forum on a transnational website. Findings revealed that the mothers actively (1) leverage their linguistic capital for sharing information and experience; (2) support each other through building a social network; and (3) cultivate aspirational capital through sharing feelings and empathy. This study counters the deficit-oriented paradigm on immigrant mothers of children with disabilities and reframes mothers as advocates who build community to collaboratively navigate their parenting journeys. This study also calls attention to the transnational network of capitals that immigrant mothers collaboratively build and encourages researchers and professionals to inquire into ways to better support immigrant mothers and their children.