Skip to main content

Motherhood, Social Policies, and Women’s Activism in Latin America: An Overview

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Motherhood, Social Policies and Women's Activism in Latin America

Part of the book series: Studies of the Americas ((STAM))

Abstract

This chapter introduces the central themes of the book and reflects on the expansion of the study of motherhood and maternalism since the 1970s. The chapter briefly considers how far we can talk about an era of “post maternalism” before reflecting in more depth on what has been referred to as “the slipperiness” of the concept of maternalism. We also ask what maternalism potentially offers for marginalized groups of women, for example, migrant women and indigenous women. Finally we provide an overview of the themes and questions addressed in the rest of the book while at the same time introducing each of the subsequent chapters.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 119.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 159.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 159.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Blofield, Merike, and Juliana Martínez Franzoni. 2014. Maternalism, Co-responsibility, and Social Equity: A Typology of Work-Family Policies. Social Politics 22: 38–59. https://doi.org/10.1093/sp/jxu015.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boddenberg, Sophie. 2018. Mujeres diversas, opresiones múltiples, resistencias complejas: Un Análisis Crítico del Discurso sobre la multidimensionalidad de las prácticas de resistencia de mujeres mapuche activistas contra capitalismo, patriarcado y colonialismo. Master degree thesis, Departamento de Política y Gobierno, Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, Universidad Alberto Hurtado, Santiago de Chile.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cooper, Nicola. 2009. Gendering the Colonial Enterprise: La Mere-Patrie and Maternalism in France and French Indochina. In Empires and Boundaries: Race, Class, and Gender in Colonial Settings, ed. Susanne Gehrmann and Harald Fischer-Tiné. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cooper, Melinda. 2017. Family Values: Between Neoliberalism and the New Social Conservatism. New York: Zone Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Deere, Carmen Diana, and Gina Alvarado. 2016. Asset Accumulation through International Migration: Gender, Remittances, and Decision Making in Ecuador. Latin American Research Review 51 (4): 249–270.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fannin, Maria, and Maud Perrier. 2016. Refiguring the Postmaternal. Australian Feminist Studies 31 (90): 383–392.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Franceschet, Susan, Jennifer M. Piscopo, and Gwynn Thomas. 2015. Supermadres, Maternal Legacies and Women’s Political Participation in Contemporary Latin America. Journal of Latin American Studies 48: 1–32. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022216X15000814.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gargallo Celentani, Francesca. 2014. Feminismos desde Abya Yala. Ideas y proposiciones de las mujeres de 607 pueblos en nuestra América. Ciudad de México: Corte y Confección. [Original Edition].

    Google Scholar 

  • Hamilton, Patricia. 2016. The ‘Good’ Attached Mother: An Analysis of Postmaternal and Postracial Thinking in Birth and Breastfeeding Policy in Neoliberal Britain. Australian Feminist Studies 31 (90): 410–431.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Infante Erazo, Mariela. 2018. Guardianas del río: mujeres lencas confrontando la trama compleja de violencia y opresión. Master degree thesis, Escuela de Sociología, Facultad de Ciencias Sociales e Historia (p. 149), Universidad Diego Portales, Santiago de Chile.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jacobs, Margaret D. 2009. White Mother to a Dark Race: Settler Colonialism, Maternalism, and the Removal of Indigenous Children in the American West and Australia, 1880–1940. University of Nebraska Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klausen, Susanne M. 2004. Race, Maternity, and the Politics of Birth Control in South Africa, 1910–39. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Koven, S., and S. Michel. 1993. Introduction: ‘Mother Worlds’. In Mothers of a New World: Maternalist Politics and the Origins of Welfare States, ed. S. Koven and S. Michel, 1–42. New York and London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lutz, H. 2015. Myra’s Predicament: Motherhood Dilemmas for Migrant Care Workers. Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State and Society 22 (3): 341–359.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mathieu, Sophie. 2016. From the Defamilialization to the ‘Demotherization’ of Care Work. Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State and Society 23 (4): 576–591.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McRobbie, Angela. 2013. Feminism, the Family and the New ‘Mediated’ Maternalism. New Formations 80 (80): 119–137.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Michel, S. 2012. Maternalism and Beyond. In Maternalism Reconsidered: Motherhood, Welfare and Social Policy in the Twentieth Century, ed. M. Van der Klein, R.J. Plant, N. Sanders, and L.R. Weintrob, 22–37. New York and Oxford: Berghahn Book.

    Google Scholar 

  • Plant, R.J., and M. Van der Klein. 2012. Introduction: A New Generation of Scholars on Maternalism. In Maternalism Reconsidered: Motherhood, Welfare and Social Policy in the Twentieth Century, ed. M. Van der Klein, R.J. Plant, N. Sanders, and L.R. Weintrob, 1–21. New York and Oxford: Berghahn Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Richards, Patricia. 2005. The Politics of Gender, Human Rights, and Being Indigenous in Chile. Gender and Society 19: 199–220.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schild, Veronica. 2016. Feminismo y neoliberalismo en América Latina. Nueva Sociedad 265 (septiembre–octubre): 32–49.

    Google Scholar 

  • Staab, Silke. 2012. Maternalism, Male-Breadwinner Bias, and Market Reform: Historical Legacies and Current Reforms in Chilean Social Policy. Social Politics 19 (3): 299–332.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Staab, Silke, and Kristen Hill Maher. 2006. The Dual Discourse about Peruvian Domestic Workers in Santiago de Chile: Class, Race, and a Nationalist Project. Latin American Politics and Society 48 (1): 87–116.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stefoni, Carolina. 2002. Mujeres Inmigrantes Peruanas en Chile. Papeles de Población, vol. 8, núm. 33, julio–septiembre 2002, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México Toluca, México.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stephens, Julie. 2012. Confronting Postmaternal Thinking: Feminism, Memory, and Care. Columbia University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2016. Shape-shifting Around the Maternal: A Response. Australian Feminist Studies 31 (90): 501–512.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jasmine Gideon .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Gideon, J., Ramm, A. (2020). Motherhood, Social Policies, and Women’s Activism in Latin America: An Overview. In: Ramm, A., Gideon, J. (eds) Motherhood, Social Policies and Women's Activism in Latin America. Studies of the Americas. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-21402-9_1

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics