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Attachment parenting is an increasingly popular style of childrearing that emphasises ‘natural’ activities such as extended breastfeeding, bedsharing and babywearing. Such parenting activities are framed as the key to addressing a variety of social ills. Parents’ choices are thus made deeply significant with the potential to guarantee the well-being of future societies.
Examining black mothers’ engagements with attachment parenting, Hamilton shows the limitations of this neoliberal approach. Unique in its intersectional analysis of contemporary mothering ideologies, this outstanding book fills a gap in the literature on parenting culture studies, drawing on black feminist theorizing to analyse intensive mothering practices and policies.
Black Mothers and Attachment Parenting is shortlisted for the 2021 BSA Philip Abrams Memorial Prize.
Introduction
Part I: Contexualizing AP: Attachment Parenting’s Rise To Prominence (And Infamy)
From Scientific Motherhood To Intensive Mothering
Why Now? AP In A Neoliberal, Postracial Context
Part II: AP And Parenting Advice In Britain And Canada
Best For Whom? Experiences Of Breastfeeding
Mother Knows Best? Bedsharing Against Expert Advice
Babywearing: Fads, Dangers and Cultural Appropriation
Part III: Dividing Parenting Labour
Negotiating Parental Leave Policies in Britain and Canada
'Staying At Home' Or 'Choosing To Work'
Part IV: Constructing An Oppositional Model Of Good Motherhood
Reclaiming AP
Conclusion