A Southern encounter: Maternal body work and low-income mothers in South Africa
Article
Stumbitz, B. and Jaga, A. 2020. A Southern encounter: Maternal body work and low-income mothers in South Africa. Gender, Work and Organization. 27 (6), pp. 1485-1500. https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.12527
Type | Article |
---|---|
Title | A Southern encounter: Maternal body work and low-income mothers in South Africa |
Authors | Stumbitz, B. and Jaga, A. |
Abstract | This paper explores the maternal body work practices of black low-income mothers from resource-poor urban spaces in South Africa. Using Southern Theory to open our analytical lens, we recognise that location has implications for how we understand the embodiment of gender and the lactating body in the global South. We argue that maternal body work, as one form of gendered embodiment, must be understood in a postcolonial landscape where histories of colonisation and indigenous gender orders continue to shape how women respond to work conditions and how they manage the competing demands of work and breastfeeding. Our analysis from 51 in-depth interviews conducted in Cape Town, demonstrates that maternal body work practices are interpreted through the entanglement of embodiment and work and non-work spaces. By emphasising contextual specificities relating to low-income worker’s living, working and family realities, we advance studies on maternal body work and employment from the global South. |
Keywords | breastfeeding; embodiment; low income; maternal body work; Southern Theory |
Research Group | Centre for Enterprise, Environment and Development Research (CEEDR) |
Publisher | Wiley |
Journal | Gender, Work and Organization |
ISSN | 0968-6673 |
Electronic | 1468-0432 |
Publication dates | |
Online | 31 Aug 2020 |
26 Nov 2020 | |
Publication process dates | |
Deposited | 25 Aug 2020 |
Submitted | 10 Jul 2020 |
Accepted | 10 Aug 2020 |
Output status | Published |
Publisher's version | License File Access Level Open |
Copyright Statement | © 2020 The Authors. Gender, Work & Organization published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.12527 |
Web of Science identifier | WOS:000564137600001 |
Language | English |
https://repository.mdx.ac.uk/item/890qv
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