Motherhood as non-ambition?: Negotiating maternal subjectivities
Conference paper
Osgood, J. and Allen, K. 2009. Motherhood as non-ambition?: Negotiating maternal subjectivities. 8th Conference of the Discourse, Power, Resistance Series (DPR8): Power and the Academy. Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester 06 - 08 Apr 2009
Type | Conference paper |
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Title | Motherhood as non-ambition?: Negotiating maternal subjectivities |
Authors | Osgood, J. and Allen, K. |
Abstract | Drawing upon recent empirical research from two separate, but interconnecting studies by the authors, we place a critical focus on ‘the maternal’. We explore how young women negotiate and position themselves in relation to dominant, post-feminist discourses of ‘choice’, ‘success’ and ‘potential’ through/within education and work. We argue, following work by McRobbie and Walkerdine, that the meanings and identities associated with 'the maternal' have been transformed by the impact of neo-liberalism on normative forms of female personhood, oriented around the economic, rational, independent, self-regulatory subject. We highlight that the identification with normative constructions of what Rose calls the ‘worthy citizen’ inculcates a problematic repudiation of motherhood as its 'other' or non-ambition. However, highly ambivalent/ ambiguous processes of dis-identification are debated and resistance to these discourses explored. |
Conference | 8th Conference of the Discourse, Power, Resistance Series (DPR8): Power and the Academy |
Publication dates | |
08 Mar 2009 | |
Publication process dates | |
Deposited | 06 Oct 2015 |
Accepted | 06 Sep 2008 |
Output status | Published |
Additional information | Symposium - Encounters between cultural studies and education |
Language | English |
https://repository.mdx.ac.uk/item/85y87
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