ABSTRACT In this paper, I showcase how left-behind mothers in the Philippines use digital communication technologies in delivering care to their overseas adult children in Melbourne, Australia. As part of a broader research project on transnational family life, the findings were drawn upon in-depth interviews, visual methods, a simple participant observation, and field notes taking and analysis. The study deployed a mediated mobilities lens, paying close attention to the different forces that shape the provision of intergenerational care through mobile device use. Building upon a critical analysis of the digitalization of intergenerational relationships in a transnational context, I coin the term ‘standby mothering.’ This conception encapsulates the femininized, ubiquitous, networked, and ambivalent intergenerational care practices that are experienced and negotiated by distant mothers. On the one hand, mobile device use enables left-behind mothers to deliver emotional and practical caregiving. On the other hand, everyday temporal conditions and technological barriers impede the provision of intergenerational care. Communicative constraints are constantly managed through various tactics, ensuring the sustenance of transnational relationships. By interrogating the contradictory outcomes of transnational caregiving, I underscore the politics of mediated mobilities in a digital society. Here, the mobilization of gendered, networked, and differential care practices is influenced by uneven structural and even socio-technological dimensions. Ultimately, this paper elucidates a critical stance on re-examining the provision of informal, gendered, and networked care practices.

中文翻译：

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备用母亲：移动代际关怀的时间、影响和政治

摘要 在本文中，我展示了菲律宾的留守母亲如何使用数字通信技术为澳大利亚墨尔本的海外成年子女提供护理。作为关于跨国家庭生活的更广泛研究项目的一部分，调查结果是通过深入访谈、视觉方法、简单的参与观察以及实地笔记记录和分析得出的。该研究部署了一个中介移动镜头，密切关注通过移动设备使用塑造代际护理提供的不同力量。基于对跨国背景下代际关系数字化的批判性分析，我创造了“备用母亲”一词。这个概念囊括了女性化的、无处不在的、网络化的、以及由远方母亲所经历和协商的矛盾的代际护理做法。一方面，移动设备的使用使留守母亲能够提供情感和实际的照顾。另一方面，日常的时间条件和技术障碍阻碍了代际照料的提供。通过各种策略不断管理沟通限制，确保跨国关系的维持。通过询问跨国护理的矛盾结果，我强调了数字社会中中介流动的政治。在这里，性别化、网络化和差异化护理实践的动员受到不平衡的结构甚至社会技术维度的影响。最终，