Maternalism Reconsidered: Motherhood, Welfare and Social Policy in the Twentieth Century (International Studies in Social History, 20) - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1782386807 ISBN 13: 9781782386803

Publisher: Berghahn Books, 2014

Synopsis

Beginning in the late 19th century, competing ideas about motherhood had a profound impact on the development and implementation of social welfare policies. Calls for programmes aimed at assisting and directing mothers emanated from all quarters of the globe, advanced by states and voluntary organizations, liberals and conservatives, feminists and anti-feminists – a phenomenon that scholars have since termed ‘maternalism’. This volume reassesses maternalism by providing critical reflections on prior usages of the concept, and by expanding its meaning to encompass geographical areas, political regimes and cultural concerns that scholars have rarely addressed. From Argentina, Brazil and Mexico City to France, Italy, the Netherlands, the Soviet Ukraine, the United States and Canada, these case studies offer fresh theoretical and historical perspectives within a transnational and comparative framework. As a whole, the volume demonstrates how maternalist ideologies have been employed by state actors, reformers and poor clients, with myriad political and social ramifications.

About this title

Book Description:

With case studies from around the world, this volume offers fresh theoretical and historical perspectives on the concept of maternalism, from its origins in the late 19th century to its current incarnations as the underpinnings of social welfare policies.

About the Author:

Rebecca Jo Plant is Associate Professor of History at the University of California, San Diego, and the author of Mom: The Transformation of Motherhood in Modern America (2010).

About this edition

• Publisher: Berghahn Books
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1782386807
• ISBN 13: 9781782386803
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 282
• Editor: Klein Marian Van Der, Plant Rebecca Jo, Sanders Nichole, Weintrob Lori R.