An anthropological analysis of narratives on motherhood in northern Kosovo and metohija

Abstract

This paper is based on research on motherhood in the northern area of Kosovo and Metohija. A qualitative anthropological analysis, grounded in semi-structured interviews with ten interlocutors – mothers who either currently live in the mentioned territory or have recently moved away after becoming parents – reveals how the everyday lives of families are already being reshaped by ongoing political incidents. These changes also influence decisions to seek cultural, recreational, and educational activities outside the post-conflict area, as well as access to other basic needs due to the closing down of Serbian institutions. The interlocutors are mothers of young or teenage children, selected through a recommendation-based sampling method. Narratives about childhood play, concerns, and visions of the future demonstrate how the theme of parenthood is intertwined with the current impelled migration of Serbs. Furthermore, the research suggests the importance of understanding maternal agency through life narratives, which offer deeper insight into mothers’ hopes and ambivalences when conceptualizing a future for their children that they strive to envision as different from their own.