Concepts of Motherhood in the 20th Century United States

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Concepts of Motherhood in the 20th Century United States

Veranstalter
Prof. Dr. Isabel Heinemann / Anne Overbeck M.A.; Emmy Noether Research Group on American Family Values and Social Change
Veranstaltungsort
Ort
Münster
Land
Deutschland
Vom - Bis
15.07.2010 - 17.07.2010
Website
Von
Anne Overbeck

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 great 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 workshop aims to refocus the changing concepts of motherhood in the course of the 20th century in the light of recent research. Special emphasize will be put on 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. The research workshop will bring together young German and international scholars with accomplished specialists in the field and thereby serve as a starting point for future academic exchange in this field.

Programm

Thursday, July 15th

6:00 – 8:00 pm
Public Opening Lecture
Rickie Solinger
Qualifying for Motherhood in the United States:
How the Rules Have Changed over Time

Friday, July 16th

9:00 – 9:30 am
Isabel Heinemann
Welcome, Opening Remarks:
Concepts of Motherhood in the 20th Century United States

Panel I: Concepts of Motherhood during the Progressive Era and the New Deal

9:30 – 12:00am
Barbara Antoniazzi
Mothering the Nation, Unmothering the Self New Women and Maternal Narratives in the Progressive Era

Ruth Feldstein
Citizenship, Motherhood, and Race in New Deal Liberalism
Comment: Rebecca Jo Plant

Panel II: Mothers, Working Women, and the Expert, 1940-1960

1:30 – 3:30 pm
Rebecca Jo Plant
Mom: The Transformation of Motherhood in Modern America

Elizabeth More
Women, Social Science, and the Reinvention of the Working Mother, 1945-1965.
Comment: Isabel Heinemann

Panel III: Family Values and Reproduction: Mexican American Women in the Focus of Social Politics

4:00 – 6:00 pm
Elena Gutierrez
Mapping the Politics of Mexican-origin Women's Reproduction in the 20th Century U.S.

Claudia Roesch
"Americanization through Homemaking":
Mexican American Mothers as a Major Factor in Americanization Programs
Comment: Ruth Feldstein

6:00 – 6:30 pm
Concluding Remarks to Panels I and II, Discussion

Saturday, July 17th

Panel IV: Religion, Reproduction and Welfare Policies

9:00 – 11:00 am
Stefanie Coché
Victorian Secrets: Promodern Patterns in Religious Concepts of Motherhood in the 1980s

Anne Overbeck
Mothering the Race: The Discourse on Welfare and Reproductive Rights of African-American Women in the 20th Century
Comment: Rickie Solinger

11:30 – 1:00 pm
Concluding Remarks and Final Discussion

Kontakt

Prof. Isabel Heinemann
Anne Overbeck
Rosenstr. 9, 48143 Münster
anne.overbeck@uni-muenster.de
0251-8329857

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