Navigating the “Good Life”: Middle-Class Motherhood and the Fragile Consent of Lifestyle Legitimacy

• In Event: 50261 - Family Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 10: Gendered Parenting

Abstract

The 21st century is marked by extreme wealth concentration which raises questions about how this power is experienced and justified within specific communities. This paper uses Bentonville, Arkansas, a town radically reshaped by Walmart and the Walton Family Foundation, to understand these dynamics. While urban sociology recognizes the influence of place and the construction of urban environments, existing frameworks don't fully capture the comprehensive control exerted in places like Bentonville. This study focuses on middle-class mothers, who are often targeted by such curated communities with promises of a family-friendly lifestyle. As primary consumers of these curated amenities and designated managers of family life, their experiences are crucial. Based on 46 in-depth interviews with 28 middle-class mothers in Bentonville, the analysis examines how they navigate and interpret elite influence. I argues that legitimacy is achieved through the strategic cultivation and fulfillment of "lifestyle legitimacy." The paper outlines four interconnected mechanisms of this legitimacy and identifies a typology of responses. This research contributes theoretically by introducing curated community capitalism and lifestyle legitimacy. These concepts offer a new lens to understand concentrated economic power. Empirically, it reveals the micro-level processes of legitimation and demonstrates the diverse ways individuals negotiate the complex interplay of power, place, and inequality in communities.

Author

• Laura B. Backstrom, Florida Atlantic University