21st Century Motherhood Movement

Mothers Speak Out on Why We Need to Change the World and How to Do It

Edited by Andrea O’Reilly

This anthology, the first on the 21st century motherhood movement, includes seven sections: Becoming a Mother; Maternal Identities; Maternal Advocacy; Maternal Activism; Violence, Militarism, War and Peace; Social Change and Social Justice; Writing/Researching/Performing Motherhood—and features more than eighty motherhood organizations from around the globe. Each chapter discusses the context, history, mandate of the organization and examines the organization’s activities, challenges, future goals, and its relationship to the larger motherhood movement. The introduction provides an overview of the history and ideological frameworks of the 21st century motherhood movement, discusses the challenges and possibilities of maternalism, details the specific practices and strategies of 21st century maternal activism, and considers such in relation to feminist theory and practice. This book affirms that the 21st century motherhood movement is an autonomous and distinct social movement that makes possible a much needed and long overdue mother-centred theory and politic of feminism.

“Andrea O’Reilly offers us a compelling look at a nascent movement whose force cannot be denied. This invaluable and comprehensive collection conveys the excitement, tensions, and potential of motherhood as a rallying cry. Bringing together a variety of perspectives and voices in a rich mix, it explores the many facets of maternal activism and provides a much-needed resource for anyone who wants to understand mothers’ efforts to make the personal political.“
—Pamela Stone, Hunter College and Graduate Center of the City University of New York and author of Opting Out? Why Women Really Quit Careers and Head Home

“This rich anthology documents the modern mother’s movement in all of its diversity. It is must reading for anyone interested in the explosion of activism aimed at the empowerment of women as mothers. Mamazons, outlaw mothers, strategic essentialists, on-line pragmatists, lesbian theorists, and more than 80 organizations representing every class, creed and color of mother–they are all here. If you want a clear picture of 21st century matrocentric feminism, look no further–this is it.”
- Ann Crittenden, author of The Price of Motherhood: Why the Most Important Job in the World is Still the Least Valued

Contents

Acknowledgements
Introduction
Section I: Becoming a Mother: Pregnancy, Childbirth, Breastfeeding
Section II: Maternal Identities
Section III: Maternal Advocacy
Section IV: Maternal Activism
Section V: Violence, Militarism, War and Peace
Section VI: Social Change and Social Justice
Section VII: Writing, Researching, and Performing Motherhood
Organizations
Contributor Notes

About the Author

Andrea O’Reilly is  Full Professor in the School of Women’s Studies at York University. She is author/editor of eighteen books on Mothering/ Motherhood including Mother Outlaws: Theories and Practices of Empowered Mothering. O’Reilly is the founder, director of the Motherhood Initiative for Research and Community Involvement (MIRCI) (formerly the Association for Research on Mothering 1998-2010).