Performance and Performativity of Good Mothering: Pakistani Mothers’ Experiences in a Neoliberal Society

• In Event: Critical Approaches to Family and Community Engagement in Early Childhood

Abstract

This study investigates the performance of good mothering among middle-class Pakistani mothers. These mothers navigate a complex web of factors including intense pressure to achieve an idealized standard of mothering and neoliberal expectations to prioritize children's development for global success. Using Bourdieu’s theory of social reproduction and Butler’s Performativity theory, a post-structuralist lens frames the analysis of ethnographic data. Findings reveal that mothers believe good mothering includes fostering children's character and education often by sacrificing one’s own needs, among other components of their motherhood. This research contributes to understanding how good mothering is performed in neoliberal contexts and opens doors to reimagine the definition of good mothering.

Author

• Madiha Noor, Pennsylvania State University