Shadow mothers : nannies, au pairs, and the micropolitics of mothering / Cameron Lynne Macdonald.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Macdonald, Cameron Lynne.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Au pairs.

Child care services.

Child care.

Motherhood.

Nannies.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (288 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Berkeley : University of California Press, c2011.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Shadow Mothers shines new light on an aspect of contemporary motherhood often hidden from view: the need for paid childcare by women returning to the workforce, and the complex bonds mothers forge with the "shadow mothers" they hire. Cameron Lynne Macdonald illuminates both sides of an unequal and complicated relationship. Based on in-depth interviews with professional women and childcare providers- immigrant and American-born nannies as well as European au pairs-Shadow Mothers locates the roots of individual skirmishes between mothers and their childcare providers in broader cultural and social tensions. Macdonald argues that these conflicts arise from unrealistic ideals about mothering and inflexible career paths and work schedules, as well as from the devaluation of paid care work.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Preface

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

1. Introduction: Childcare on Trial

2. Mother-Employers: Blanket Accountability at Home and at Work

3. Nannies on the Market

4. "They're Too Poor and They All Smoke": Ethnic Logics and Childcare Hiring Decisions

5. Managing a Home-Centered Childhood: Intensive Mothering by Proxy

6. Creating Shadow Mothers

7. The "Third-Parent" Ideal

8. Nanny Resistance Strategies

9. Partnerships: Seeking a New Model

10. Untangling the Mother-Nanny Knot

Appendix: Research Methods

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 24. Apr 2020)

ISBN:

9786613277374

9781283277372

1283277379

9780520947818

0520947819

OCLC:

699475052