Biographical Research and the Meanings of Mothering
Life Choices, Identities and Methods
Edited by Lyudmila Nurse, Lisa Moran and Kateřina Sidiropulu-Janků
Published
Sep 14, 2023Page count
252 pagesISBN
978-1447365624Dimensions
234 x 156 mmImprint
Policy PressPublished
Sep 14, 2023Page count
252 pagesISBN
978-1447365631Dimensions
234 x 156 mmImprint
Policy PressPublished
Sep 14, 2023Page count
252 pagesISBN
978-1447365631Dimensions
234 x 156 mmImprint
Policy Press
Biographical Research and the Meanings of Mothering
What does mothering mean in different cultures and societies? This book extensively applies biographical and narrative research methods to mothering from international perspectives.
This edited collection engages with changing attitudes and approaches to mothering from women’s individual biographical experiences, illuminating how socially anticipated tasks of mothering shaped through interlinking state, media, religious beliefs and broader society are reflected in their identities and individual life choices. Considering trust, rapport, reflexivity and self-care, this collection advances methodological practice in the study of mothers, carers and childless women’s lives.
“Utilising biographical approaches and focusing on a wide range of experiences, the authors effectively challenge many stereotypes and shine a beautifully clear light on real-life experiences of mothering, motherhood (and non-motherhood).” Gayle Letherby, Visiting Professor, Plymouth University, Greenwich University and Bath University (Centre for Death and Society)
Lyudmila Nurse is Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of Education, University of Oxford.
Lisa Moran is Head of Department and Senior Lecturer in the Department of Social Care and Early Childhood, South East Technological University (SETU).
Kateřina Sidiropulu-Janků is Senior Researcher in the Institute for Applied Research on Ageing, Carinthia University of Applied Sciences.
Introduction: Biographical Approaches to Mothering - Identities and Lived Realities – Lyudmila Nurse, Lisa Moran and Kateřina Sidiropulu-Janků
1. Becoming and Being a Polish Mother: Narratives on the Motherhood Experience - Katarzyna Gajek, Poland
2. “A Good Mother is a Good Mother and a Good Wife”: Gender Politics and Mothering Practice Among Older Iranian Muslim Women - Elham Amini, UK
3. Exploration of Mothering and Shifting Identities in Kenya - Fibian Lukalo, Kenya
4. Biographies of Roma Mothering in Contemporary Czechia. Exploring Tapestries of Multi-ethnic Gendered Identity in a Marginalised Social Position - Kateřina Sidiropulu Janků, Austria & Jana Obrovská, Czech Republic
5. Identities and Life Choices of Mothers in a Disadvantaged Neighbourhood in England - Lyudmila Nurse, UK
6. Giving Voice to Irish Mothers Experiencing Separation and Divorce - Rosemary Crosse and Michelle Millar, Ireland
7. Ideal, Good Enough, and Failed Motherhood: How Disabled Canadian Mothers Manage in Hostile Circumstances - Claudia Malacrida, Canada
8. Confronting Meanings of Motherhood in Neoliberal Australia: Six Crystallized Case Studies - Laetitia Coles, Emma Cooke & Jasneek Chawla, Australia
9. Unplanned Breakdown of Foster Mothering: Biographical Perspectives on Identity Challenges of Foster Mothers - Daniela Reimer, Switzerland
10. Non-Mothers: Identities, Ambiguity, Biography Making and Life Choices - Joan Cronin, Ireland
Conclusion: Exploring Mothering in Future Biographical Research: Interdisciplinarity, Transdisciplinarity and New Research Agendas - Lisa Moran, Lyudmila Nurse and Kateřina Sidiropulu-Janků
