Sharing the Work of Family Happiness

• In Event: Collectivity, Collaboration, and Self-Care in a Precarious Present

Abstract

Drawing on extensive ethnographic research, this paper explores how white nuclear mothers practice self-help in community, collectively taking on their loads of material and affective labor in increasingly precarious times. Indeed, one of the most important ways that mothers weather precarity is through sharing the work of family happiness and helping each other stay invested in its promises. We theorize these collective forms of self-help as individualized solidarities as the aim of collectivity is the stabilization of individual nuclear families.

Presenter

• Emily Yochim, Allegheny College