This article is based on a case study of a catastrophic wildfire that occurred in western Canada in 2003. The organization of the firefighting efforts and unequal support and praise from the public and the media resulted in a hierarchy between firefighting groups. This created inter-group tension and conflicts that firefighters resolved using discursive strategies that positioned some occupational groups as superior and others as subordinate. I argue that we cannot fully understand firefighters' strategies for negotiating this hierarchy without examining masculinity dynamics; something that previous research on boundary work and the comparative self have yet to examine.
Although most Americans agree that postsecondary education is the clearest path to later financial security, many families have trouble saving money to help their children in this process. This article focuses on the struggles of middle-income families as they attempt to negotiate their daily financial realities with their aspirations for their children's postsecondary education. In particular, the article examines the discord between the high educational aspirations these middle-income families have for their children and their daily financial constraints. We do so by analyzing in-depth interviews with 31 middle-income families living in the greater Philadelphia area. The middleincome parents in our sample are acutely aware of the importance of college for their children's upward mobility, and they ideally would like to support their children in this pursuit. However, their current financial insecurity, their lack of government support, and the rising costs of college make preparing for this dream increasingly difficult.
This article explores the ways in which middle-income mothers negotiate the hegemony of intensive mothering when faced with financial strain. We consider how finances are linked to mothers’ ability to practise their preferred version of ‘good’ mothering, and the strategies used to marshal the financial resources necessary to implement this model. We find that much heterogeneity exists in the ways that mothers respond to the discourse of intensive mothering, and that financial resources are linked to how mothers both construct and practise ‘good’ mothering. For example, in an effort to reconcile tensions between their constructions of ‘good’ mothering and paid labour, they employ strategies such as remaining the primary caregiver for their children while also working at night, taking on contract work and taking in boarders. This research has specific implications for the ways that middle-income families are functioning in the current neoliberal political and economic climate.
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