Mobilizing Motherhood: Race, Class, and the Uses of Maternalism in the Welfare Rights Movement

Cultural Capital, Motherhood Capital, and Low-income Immigrant Mothers’ Institutional Negotiations

“…Studies have shown that, as they attempt to protect their families and communities, mothers sometimes redefine motherhood as collective caring involving grassroots activism that seeks to challenge structural inequalities and injustices. Conceptualized as political mothering (Fuentes 2013; Pardo 1990), activist mothering (Naples 1998), or motherhood-based activism (Edmonds-Cady 2009), these practices transform motherhood from a private identity into a basis for collective and politicized mobilizing and organizing. As Bourdieusian scholars would argue, women engaged in political mothering collectively challenge the “rules of the game” that seem unjust.…”

“…Scholars have richly documented how mothers, under various circumstances, have broadened their understandings of motherhood as collective caring, prompting them to confront the structural causes of inequalities and injustice threatening the welfare of their families or communities. Conceptualized as political mothering (Fuentes 2013; Pardo 1990), activist mothering (Naples 1998), or motherhood-based activism (Edmonds-Cady 2009; Taylor 1997), these practices transform motherhood from a private identity into a basis for collective and politicized mobilizing and organizing. Examples include activism that confronts state violence (e.g., the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo), resists institutionalized racism (e.g., the Welfare Rights Movement), or challenges environmental or educational injustice (e.g., the Mothers of East LA).…”