Whilst studies of 'Parenting Culture' and 'Assisted Reproductive Technologies' (ARTs) are now well-established areas of social science scholarship, so far, the potential connections between the two fields have not been significantly explored. Responding to calls for a more 'processual' approach to studying reproduction (Almeling, 2015) in order to make clearer contributions to sociological theory more broadly, we begin a dialogue between these mutually relevant bodies of literature, highlighting connections and crosscutting findings. We focus on four interlinked themes -Reflexivity, Gender, Expertise and Stratification -and promote a more holistic approach to understanding how children are conceived and cared for within the current 'Euro-American' reproductive landscape. By way of conclusion, we draw attention to the contemporary context of 'anxious reproduction' and propose directions for future research.
Based on research in London with mothers from a breastfeeding support organisation this paper explores the narratives of women who breastfeed ‘to full term’ (typically for a period of several years) as part of a philosophy of ‘attachment parenting’, an approach to parenting which validates long term proximity between child and care-taker. In line with wider cultural trends, one of the most prominent ‘accountability strategies’ used by this group of mothers to explain their long-term breastfeeding is recourse to scientific evidence, both about the nutritional benefits of breastfeeding and about the broader cognitive and developmental benefits of attachment parenting more broadly. Women's accounts internalize and reflect popular literature around attachment parenting, which is explored here in-depth as a means of contextualizing shifting patterns of ‘scientisation’. What follows is a reflection on how ‘scientific evidence’ is given credence in narratives of mothering, and what the implications of this are for individuals in their experience of parenting, and for society more broadly. As a form of ‘Authoritative Knowledge’ ( JORDAN 1997 ) women utilise ‘science’ when they talk about their decisions to breastfeed long-term, since it has the effect of placing these non-conventional practices beyond debate (they are simply what is ‘healthiest’). The article therefore makes a contribution to wider sociological debates around the ways in which society and behaviour are regulated, and the ways in which ‘science’ is interpreted, internalized and mobilized by individuals in the course of their ‘identity work’.
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