Motherhood in Contemporary International Perspective

Fabienne Portier-Le Cocq is Professor of Contemporary British Studies at the University of Tours in France, and has done comparative research for the European Commission on families. Her research interests also span young, lone parenthood, domestic violence in Britain and France, in addition to qualitative studies. Her latest publication (2017) is Fertility, Health and Lone Parenting: European Contexts, Routledge.

This collection of chapters written by prominent researchers addresses the representations of mothers and motherhood in certain contemporary societies, notably in South Asia.

1. Theorising Motherhood; 2. (M)othering and the Politics of Early Intervention: Biologisation and the Reproduction of Gendered, Classed and Raced Inequalities; 3. A Mother's Place is in the Home: Deconstructing Self-Interest and Altruism in Feminist Economics; Part 1 Difficult Times for Mothers; 4. Mother Figures Behind Bars: Pregnant Women and Mothers in Prison in England and Wales; 5. Martyr, Miscreant, or A Modern Mama? Exploring the Archetypal and Realistic Images of Mothers of Children with Disabilities; 6. South Asian Mothering in White Spaces; Part 2 Unorthodox Mothers; 7. Motherhood and Mothering in Contemporary ''IP Memoirs''; 8. Teenage Mothers in England; Resisting or Silenced by the Regulatory Framework?; Part 3 Asian Mothering/Mothers; 9. Motherhood Experiences of East Asian Women in Britain; 10. Chinese Motherhood in the UK; Part 4 Lesbian Mothers/Mothering; 11. Lesbian Mothers and Citizens: The Morality Test at the United States Supreme Court; 12. Lesbian Motherhood: From the Social Recognition of Female Homosexuality to the 'Lesby-boom': A Comparison Between Britain and France; Part 5 Representations of Mothers in Art; 13. Maternal Fantasies in an Era of Crisis - Single Mothers, Self-Sacrifice, and Sexuality in Japanese Television Drama; 14. Countering Allegorical Motherhood in Irish and Northern Irish Contemporary Art: The Female Body as a Tool for Resistance; 15. Female ''Transformational Energy'' in Louise Erdrich's Works.