Shadow Mothers: Nannies, Au Pairs, and the Micropolitics of Mothering

by Cameron Lynne Macdonald

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780520266971
Publisher:	University of California Press
Publication date:	02/09/2011
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.80(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Cameron Lynne Macdonald is Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Table of Contents

Preface

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
Contents
Preface

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Offers surprising and layered insights into the . . . modern mommy phenomenon played out every day from coast to coast."—Boston Globe

"Sparks important insights for mother-employers and their employees. . . . And along the way, it offers society and individuals a way to create positive mother-childcare worker relationships."—Foreword

"An interesting read. . . . [Macdonald's] findings are thought-provoking"—Law Society Journal

Editorial Reviews

"MacDonald does an excellent job of carrying her reader through the daily lives of mother employers and nannies through using specific interviews to capture the points she strives to make."

Journal of Youth Adolescence

Sparks important insights for mother-employers and their employees. . . . And along the way, it offers society and individuals a way to create positive mother-childcare worker relationships.

Foreword

Offers surprising and layered insights into the . . . modern mommy phenomenon played out every day from coast to coast.

Boston Globe

"Offers surprising and layered insights into the . . . modern mommy phenomenon played out every day from coast to coast."--Boston Globe

"Sparks important insights for mother-employers and their employees. . . . And along the way, it offers society and individuals a way to create positive mother-childcare worker relationships."--Foreword

"An interesting read. . . . [Macdonald's] findings are thought-provoking"--Law Society Journal

From the Publisher

An interesting read. . . . [Macdonald’s] findings are thought-provoking

Law Society Journal - Kate Burns