In dialogue with self and the world: Cape Verdean migrant pregnancy in Portugal

The voices of Cape Verdean migrant student mothers in Portugal are examined in the light of Archer’s (2003) theory on the ‘inner dialogue’. The article frames the mothers as complex social actors who respond to the uncertainties surrounding unplanned pregnancy through self-reflection and dialogue with and about the world, turning the disorientation of unexpected motherhood into a meaningful project. The analysis reveals how the women’s agency is located within the wider influences of kinship and gender norms and how these are already negotiated in the case of unconfirmed pregnancy.The research was funded by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), Lisbon, Portugal via the Centre for Research in Anthropology (CRIA) at the University of Minho (UM). It began as a post-doctoral grant (SFRH/BPD/36914/2007), and was then funded within the ambit of the Programa Ciencia 2008 (CONT_DOUT/119/CRIA/4038/10779/1/2008) and the project "Care as Sustainability in Crisis Situations" (PTDC/CS-ANT/117259/2010) within the strategic project of CRIA (PEst-OE/SADG/UI4038/2014). I would like to thank Gill Rye for inviting me to participate in the workshop where an earlier version of this article was presented and the anonymous reviewers for their insights