Overcoming stigma: the boundary work of privileged mothers of Turkish background in Berlin’s private schools

Abstract

ABSTRACT Since their arrival in Germany as guest workers, women of Turkish background have been subject to stigma and discrimination. Based on interviews with 20 mothers of Turkish background in Germany who send their children to private schools, we reveal the complex experience of stigma and discrimination interwoven with the experience of immigrant motherhood and parenting in educational institutions. We then analyze the stigma-countering strategies adopted by mothers in Berlin’s private schools. We argue that mothers of Turkish background who send their children to private schools respond to stigma and discrimination by capitalizing on their own privileges: economic opportunities, educational attainment, and aspirational global cultural capital. While they adopt strategies motivated by their understanding of “good motherhood,” they deemphasize ethnic boundaries and emphasize class status with boundaries often drawn against “uneducated” and “Middle Eastern” immigrants, aiming to reposition themselves as members of a privileged international group in Berlin.