Reassembling Motherhood - Procreation and Care in a Globalized World

Sonya Michel, Yasmine Ergas, Jane Jenson

Summary

The word “mother” traditionally meant a woman who bears and nurtures a child. In recent decades, changes in social norms and public policy as well as advances in reproductive technologies and the development of markets for procreation and care have radically expanded definitions of motherhood. But while maternity has become a matter of choice for more women, the freedom to make reproductive decisions is unevenly distributed. Restrictive policies, socioeconomic disadvantages, cultural mores, and discrimination force some women into motherhood and prevent others from caring for their children.Reassembling Motherhood brings together contributors from across the disciplines to consider the transformation of motherhood as both an identity and a role. It examines how the processes of bearing and rearing a child are being restructured as reproductive labor and care work change around the globe. The authors examine issues such as artificial reproductive technologies, surrogacy, fetal ultrasounds, adoption, nonparental care, and the legal status of kinship, showing how complex chains of procreation and childcare have simultaneously generated greater liberty and new forms of constraint. Emphasizing the tension between the liberalization of procreation and care on the one hand, and the limits to their democratization due to race, class, and global inequality on the other, the book highlights debates that have emerged as these multifaceted changes have led to both the fragmentation and reassembling of motherhood.

Available since: 10/10/2017.

Other books that might interest you

The Post-American Presidency -...

Pamela Geller, Robert Spencer

Popular conservative blogger Pamela Geller and New York Times bestselling author Robert Spencer sound a wake-up call for Americans to stop the Obama administration from limiting our hard-won freedoms, silencing our democratic voices, and irreparably harming America for generations to come. America is being tested in a way that she has never been tested before. Since taking the oath of office in January 2009, President Barack Obama has cheered our enemies and demoralized our allies. He is hard at work "remaking" America by destroying the free-market system and nationalizing major segments of our economy, demonizing dissent and restricting freedom of speech, turning against our longtime friends, and above all, subjecting us to the determinations of foreign authorities. In this timely and urgent battle cry, Pamela Geller, founder of the widely popular website www.AtlasShrugs.com, and New York Times bestselling author Robert Spencer team up to expose the Obama administration’s destructive agenda—largely ignored by the mainstream media—and rally Americans to protect the sovereignty of a country that is under siege by the highest levels of its own government. As Americans see their paychecks shrinking every day, Obama ignores our forefathers’ founding principle: individual rights. Instead, he seeks to level the playing field—to transform both the global and national landscape in favor of our enemies—even if it means cutting America off at the knees. He envisions himself as more than just a president of the United States, but as a shaper of the new world order, an internationalist energetically laying the groundwork for global government: the president of the world. A vital guide to helping conservatives prepare for the tough battles ahead, The Post-American Presidency critically examines the Obama administration’s ominous and revealing moves against our basic freedoms, particularly as he seizes control of the three engines of the American economy: health care, energy, and education. The Shining City on a Hill has gone dark. But America is not dead. The time is NOW to stand up and fight.

Show book

The Effective Citizen - How to...

Graham Steele

One of Canada’s most compelling political writers reveals how government really works—and how ordinary citizens can make it work for them.   A lawyer, analyst, and former Nova Scotia cabinet minister, Graham Steele shared a candid chronicle of his experiences in Canadian government with his acclaimed memoir What I Learned About Politics. Now he presents an insiders’ guide to modern Canadians politics, answering elusive questions such as: Who really runs the parties? What does a backbencher do? And how does a citizen effectively navigate the system to achieve change?   A primer for anyone who wants to become a politician or influence one, The Effective Citizen explains how politicians think and what factors influence that thinking; how to interpret the “non-answer” in political speech; and acknowledges that in politics, “bland is safe.”

Show book

The Nazis' Nuremberg Rallies

James Wilson

“An amazing collection of original photographs and postcards relating to the Nuremberg rallies of the Nazis . . . the book is dazzling.” —War History Online This book describes the background to and the development of the Nazi Party Rallies held at Nuremberg each September from 1933 to 1939. These Reichsparteitage (National Party Days) were vast and meticulously staged managed extravaganzas in which ritual and ceremony played an important part. The Rallies had two key objectives. The first was to focus public attention on the successes of the Nazi Party and connect with the public conscience and build a close bond between Party and people. Even more important was the Rallies’ role in presenting Adolf Hitler as the savior of the German nation sent to restore national pride, power and prosperity after the shame and economic disaster of the post war years and the deeply resented Versailles Treaty. The Hitler Cult was blatantly promoted with revolutionary use of propaganda by the latest technology and iron control of the media. The author’s superb collection of postcards and images takes the reader on a visual journey through each year’s Reichsparteitage. The Nazis’ Nuremberg Rallies, which also includes character studies of the principal Nazi figures, is a truly fascinating way to understand this uniquely successful and threatening phenomena.“Excellent . . . The book really does bring each and every rally to life, the book also has some rare photos that I haven’t seen before and it also displays posters and postcards designed for the events. So you get to see the propaganda on multiple levels.” —UK Historian

Show book

When Money Talks - The High...

Derek Cressman

“When money talks, democracy walks. Read this book to learn how We the People can take back our elections from the billionaires.” —Robert B. Reich, former U.S. Secretary of Labor and author of The System: Who Rigged It, How We Fix It Special-interest money is destroying our democratic process. And ever since the Citizens United decision threw out campaign spending limits abridgments of free speech, Americans want to know what they can do about it. Derek Cressman gives us the tools, both intellectual and tactical, to fight back. There’s nothing inherently unconstitutional in limiting the amount of speech, Cressman insists. We do it all the time—for example, cities control when and where demonstrations can take place or how long people can speak at council meetings. Moreover, he argues that while you choose to patronize Fox News, MSNBC, the New York Times, or the Wall Street Journal, political advertising is forced upon you. It’s not really free speech at all—it’s paid speech. It’s not at all what the Founders had in mind when they wrote the First Amendment. Cressman examines how courts have foiled attempts to limit campaign spending, details what a constitutional amendment limiting paid speech should say, and reveals an overlooked political tool that concerned citizens can use to help gain the amendment’s passage. Seven times before in our history we have approved constitutional amendments to overturn wrongheaded rulings by the Supreme Court—and there’s no reason we can’t do it again.

Show book

Summary of Victor Davis Hanson's...

Falcon Press

Buy now to get the main key ideas from Victor Davis Hanson's The Dying Citizen 
  
The Dying Citizen: How Progressive Elites, Tribalism, and Globalization Are Destroying the Idea of America (2021) aims to reveal destructive forces and harmful beliefs that are eroding American citizenship. Conservative author Victor Davis Hanson argues that American citizenship — a 233-year-old ideal capable of transcending its birth and fully integrating women and people of color into the political commonwealth — is being undermined by both those ignorant of the Constitution and those who think they completely understand it. 
Those ignorant of the Constitution are unaware of the negative effects of radical demographic, cultural, or political influences on citizenship. They don't care about history and tradition, or the civic responsibility of being an American. On the other hand, those too intimate with the Constitution believe it needs adjustments to keep up with the times. They want a constantly evolving Constitution that can act as a global model for a worldwide brotherhood.

Show book

Beautiful Soup

Lewis Carroll

LibriVox volunteers bring you 18 different recordings of Beautiful Soup by Lewis Carroll. This was the weekly poetry project for the week of April 1st, 2007.

Show book