Shadow Mothers
eBook - PDF

Shadow Mothers

Nannies, Au Pairs, and the Micropolitics of Mothering

  1. 288 pages
  2. English
  3. PDF
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - PDF

Shadow Mothers

Nannies, Au Pairs, and the Micropolitics of Mothering

About this book

Shadow Mothers shines new light on an aspect of contemporary motherhood often hidden from view: the need for paid childcare by women returning to the workforce, and the complex bonds mothers forge with the "shadow mothers" they hire. Cameron Lynne Macdonald illuminates both sides of an unequal and complicated relationship. Based on in-depth interviews with professional women and childcare providers— immigrant and American-born nannies as well as European au pairs—Shadow Mothers locates the roots of individual skirmishes between mothers and their childcare providers in broader cultural and social tensions. Macdonald argues that these conflicts arise from unrealistic ideals about mothering and inflexible career paths and work schedules, as well as from the devaluation of paid care work.

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Yes, you can access Shadow Mothers by Cameron Lynne Macdonald in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Politics & International Relations & Labour & Industrial Relations. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.
16 
Introduction
the 
class-based 
nature 
of 
mothering 
ideologies. 
Class 
transmission 
is 
work, 
and 
it 
is 
women’s 
work. 
Negotiating 
this 
gendered 
work 
between 
women 
of 
different 
classes 
is 
a 
central 
problem 
facing 
those 
I 
interviewed. 
In 
my 
concluding 
remarks, 
I 
argue 
that 
concerns 
for 
the 
dignity 
of 
care 
should 
transcend 
anxieties 
over 
the 
maintenance 
of 
status.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title
  3. Copyright
  4. Contents
  5. Preface
  6. 1. Introduction: Childcare on Trial
  7. 2. Mother-Employers: Blanket Accountability at Home and at Work
  8. 3. Nannies on the Market
  9. 4. “They’re Too Poor and They All Smoke”: Ethnic Logics and Childcare Hiring Decisions
  10. 5. Managing a Home-Centered Childhood: Intensive Mothering by Proxy
  11. 6. Creating Shadow Mothers
  12. 7. The “Third-Parent” Ideal
  13. 8. Nanny Resistance Strategies
  14. 9. Partnerships: Seeking a New Model
  15. 10. Untangling the Mother-Nanny Knot
  16. Appendix: Research Methods
  17. Notes
  18. Bibliography
  19. Index