Motherhood has been a strongly contested concept and cause for heated debates in the US throughout the 20th century. Starting with the concept of Republican motherhood in the decades after the War of Independence, mothers have always been considered of vital importance to the well-being of the nation. This notion has served as a vital argument to strengthen women's rights, but has also proven to be a heavy burden. Blaming American mothers of different class and racial background for the country's ills, starting from poverty, to violence and immorality, has been a reoccurring theme in the discourse on the fate of the nation.

The 1950s are a case in point. At the same time as the suburban housewife and mother became an over idealized icon of the era, overbearing 'moms' were heavily criticized for 'smothering' and emasculating their sons and disabling a generation of American men to become proper citizens. But 'Mom-bashing' was not at all limited to white middle-class women. African-American mothers became the focal point of heated discussions on the state of the African-American family and the responsibilities of the welfare state, thereby connecting family values to fiscal issues and federal policies. Public and legislative efforts to control reproductive rights and the reasoning behind it were another crucial issue where public and private spheres intersected. From different adoption opportunities to regulations on abortion and sterilizations, public institutions and political efforts have played an important role in deciding who should become a mother in the first place.

With the research workshop we aim at bringing together young German and international scholars (PhD and postdoc level) with accomplished specialists in the field. Together we will try to refocus the changing concepts of motherhood in the course of the 20th century in the light of recent research. We are especially interested in learning more about the long-term mental and social changes in American society that were motivated or exemplified by the diverging concepts of motherhood, especially regarding minority women. Of equal importance are the implications of the race and class divide as well as the transformations of gender roles and family values in a broader sense.

Potential paper topics may include but are not limited to:
- The War on Illegitimacy: Single Motherhood in the United States
- Welfare Moms and Welfare Queens: The Impact of Sociology on the Political Discourse
- Mommy Knows Best: The Ideal of Motherhood in the 1950s
- Black Mammies, White Moms: Mother Blaming in the 1950s and 1960s
- Between Choice and Coercion: Reproductive Rights and Motherhood
Minority Women and the Ideal of Motherhood

The workshop is part of a research project of the Emmy-Noether Junior Research Group on “Family Values and Social Change: The US-American Family in the 20th Century” funded by the German Science Foundation (DFG) headed by Isabel Heinemann. The workshop will be held in English. We will cover accommodation and travel costs (economy flights, public transportation).

Please send an abstract of no more than three pages by April 15th to:
familienwerte@uni-muenster.de