Disciplines Anthropology Cultural Anthropology American & Canadian

Pressing Onward The Imperative Resilience of Latina Migrant Mothers

by Jessica P. Cerdeña (Author)
April 2023
First Edition
Hardcover
$95.00, £80.00 Paperback
$29.95, £25.00 eBook
$29.95, £25.00
Title Details

Rights: Available worldwide
Pages: 244
ISBN: 9780520394032
Illustrations: 4 maps, 2 charts, 1 b&w image, 3 tables

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About the Book From Our Blog About the Author Reviews Table of Contents Media Related Books

About the Book

Pressing Onward centers the stories of mothers who migrated from Latin America, settled in New Haven, Connecticut, and overcame trauma and ongoing adversity to build futures for their children. These migrant mothers enact imperative resilience, engaging cognitive and social strategies to resist racial, economic, and gender-based oppression to seguir adelante, or press onward. Both a contemporary view of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on racially minoritized populations and a timeless account of the ways immigration enforcement and healthcare inequality affect migrant mothers, Pressing Onward uses ethnography to tell a greater story of persistence amid long-standing structural violence.

From Our Blog

The Different States of Motherhood

Recognizing and honoring the unique and different aspects of being a mother in 2023 While Mother’s Day is a time for mothers across the globe to be celebrated, it is equally important …

Q&A with Jessica P. Cerdeña, author of Pressing Onward

Pressing Onward: The Imperative Resilience of Latina Migrant Mothers centers the stories of mothers who migrated from Latin America, settled in New Haven, Connecticut, and overcame trauma and ongoing adversity to build futures …

About the Author

Jessica P. Cerdeña is an anthropologist, family physician-in-training, and mother of two who lives in New Haven, Connecticut, where she advocates for racial justice and health equity (Twitter: @jes_cerdena).

Reviews

"[Cerdeña’s] own experiences as an activist and volunteer strengthen her commentary on the failures of health care services available to undocumented women, particularly in relation to prenatal and maternity needs. . . .. In the end, it is their words that give this work coherence and meaning. . . .Recommended."—CHOICE

"Pressing Onward is a stunning book, taking well-studied themes and presenting a fresh, relevant, and innovative take. It is unique in several ways, managing to address many of the core themes related to Latinx populations in the United States. Really, really impressive."—Alyshia Gálvez, Professor of Latin American and Latino Studies and Anthropology at Lehman College

"Beautifully conceived and organized, Pressing Onward focuses on the resilient ways Latinx women have overcome adversity during a global pandemic and in doing so have supported their families, social relationships, and socio-spiritual selves."—Emily Mendenhall, author of Unmasked: COVID, Community, and the Case of Okoboji

"Jessica Cerdeña rethinks resilience as a form of resistance to oppression and inequity. The mothers whom she works alongside are blamed for the social and health inequities that affect them, but they actively press onward."—Seth M. Holmes, author of Fresh Fruit, Broken Bodies and Chancellor's Professor at University of California, Berkeley

Contents

Acknowledgments
Preface

Introduction: On Love Alone

1. Leaving
2. Moving
3. Arriving
4. Mothering
5. Surviving
Conclusion: Onward

Appendix A. Methods
Appendix B. Ethnographic Tables
Appendix C. Organizations for Immigration and Health Policy Reform and Activism
References
Index