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Militant Lactivism?: Attachment Parenting and Intensive Motherhood in the UK and France

Faircloth, Charlotte (2013) Militant Lactivism?: Attachment Parenting and Intensive Motherhood in the UK and France. Berghahn Books, Oxford, 278 pp. ISBN 978-0-85745-758-5. (The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided) (KAR id:34404)

The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided.
Official URL:
http://www.berghahnbooks.com/title.php?rowtag=Fair...

Abstract

Following networks of mothers in London and Paris, the author profiles the narratives of women who breastfeed their children to full term, typically a period of several years, as part of an "attachment parenting" philosophy. These mothers talk about their decision to continue breastfeeding as the "natural thing to do": "evolutionarily appropriate," "scientifically best," and "what feels right in their hearts." Through a theoretical focus on knowledge claims and accountability, the author frames these accounts within a wider context of "intensive parenting," arguing that parenting practices - infant feeding in particular - have become a highly moralized affair for mothers, practices which they feel are a critical aspect of their "identity work." The book investigates why, how, and with what implications some of these mothers describe themselves as "militant lactivists" as well as reflects on wider parenting culture in the UK and France. Discussing gender, feminism, and activism, this study contributes to kinship and family studies by exploring how relatedness is enacted in conjunction to constructions of the self.

Item Type: Book
Uncontrolled keywords: Motherhood,Parenting, attachment, gender, feminism, and activism
Subjects: H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
H Social Sciences > HM Sociology
Divisions: Divisions > Division for the Study of Law, Society and Social Justice > School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research
Depositing User: Mita Mondal
Date Deposited: 25 Jun 2013 11:15 UTC
Last Modified: 16 Nov 2021 10:11 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/34404 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

University of Kent Author Information

Faircloth, Charlotte.

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