Mothers at the Margins (PDF)

In the last two decades, maternal scholarship has grown exponentially. Despite this, however, there are still numerous areas which remain under-researched, one of which is the experiences of marginalised mothers. Far from being a sentimental, feel-good account of mothering, this collection speaks with the voices of mothers through the application of a matricentric lens. In particular, it speaks with the voices of those mothers who feel alienated or stigmatised; mothers who have been rendered invisible; mothers who feel they have been silenced. These are the voices of mothers who, through a perception that they do not fit the accepted and expected norms of motherhood, have been relegated to the margins. In recovering these "e;lost"e; voices, the attuned listener may hear tones that resonate, are dissonant, angry or full of joy.This book explores the experiences of mothers from broad and diverse socio-cultural backgrounds, thus expanding understandings and appreciations of the complexity of maternal experiences. It challenges narrowly constructed ideas of maternal identity, countering the homogenous collection of voices which speak in normative tones and of predictable values on the subject of motherhood and mothering. Recovering the marginalised voice of mothering and the voices of marginalised mothers reveals not only structures of alienation, oppression and marginalisation, but also strategies of resistance and love that such mothers develop through negotiating the challenges encountered in their living realities.