The Demands of Motherhood - Agents, Roles and Recognition (Hardcover)

Motherhood is the focus of much public scrutiny, situated as it seems to be at the frontier of processes of social order and change. Much has been written about the difficulties of mothering in a context of ever-expanding expert advice, as well as apparently increasing expectations that the mother-child bond be cultivated through intensive care-giving. This study returns to neglected sociological questions concerning the connections between agency and normative complexity, through the pragmatist interpretation it offers of the recognition dynamics shaping this deeply contested and emotionally fraught role. Drawing on qualitative interviews with forty mostly middle-class mothers across the UK and US, this book offers a three-party typology of the coping strategies women adopt. The various combinations of expressivism, instrumentalism and pragmatism taken up by respondents as they go about asserting normative authority and seeking esteem for the competence and quality of their mothering, provides the focus of attention.

General

Imprint:	Palgrave Macmillan
Country of origin:	United Kingdom
Series:	Palgrave Macmillan Studies in Family and Intimate Life
Release date:	May 2012
First published:	2012
Authors:	L. Smyth
Dimensions:	216 x 140 x 16mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Hardcover
Pages:	178
ISBN-13:	978-0-230-57930-9
Categories:	Books > Social sciences > Sociology, social studies > Gender studies > Women's studies > General Books > Social sciences > Sociology, social studies > Social institutions > Family & relationships > General
LSN:	0-230-57930-2
Barcode:	9780230579309

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