Encyclopedia of Motherhood
- Andrea O'Reilly - York University, Canada
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In the last decade the topic of motherhood has emerged as a distinct and established field of scholarly inquiry. A cursory review of motherhood research reveals that hundreds of scholarly articles have been published on almost every motherhood theme imaginable.
The first ever on the topic, this Encyclopedia of Motherhood helps to both demarcate motherhood as a scholarly field and an academic discipline and to direct its future development. With more than 700 entries, these three volumes provide information on the central terms, concepts, topics, issues, themes, debates, theories, and texts of this new discipline. Further, the encyclopedia examines the topic of motherhood in various contexts such as history and geography and by academic discipline.
Key Features
- Provides an overview of the topic of motherhood in many and diverse disciplines, such as anthropology, sociology, psychology and philosophy
- Examines the meaning and experience of motherhood in many time periods from classic civilizations to present day
- Includes an entry for all the influential theorists of maternal scholarship from the pioneering theories to the more recent writings
- Covers issues and events of our current times including entries on the mommy blog, the motherhood memoir, terrorism, reproductive technologies, HIV/AIDS, and LGBT families
- Explores geographical, cultural, and ethnic diversity with an entry for almost every country in the world as well as entries on lesbian, immigrant, adoptive, single, nonresidential, young, poor mothers and mothers with disabilities
Key Themes
- History of Motherhood
- Issues in Motherhood
- Motherhood and Family
- Motherhood and Health
- Motherhood and Society
- Motherhood Around the World
- Motherhood in the United States
- Motherhood Studies
- Prominent Mothers
In human society, few institutions are as important as motherhood, and this unique encyclopedia captures the interdisciplinary foundation of the subject in one convenient reference. The scope of the Encyclopedia of Motherhood is focused on providing a comprehensive resource to understanding the complexities of motherhood for academic and public libraries, written by scholars and institutional experts in the social and behavioral sciences.
"At the inexpensive price, this is … a good buy for most reference collections."-
".... This three-volume encyclopedia with 700 signed articles, contributed by an impressive collection of scholars from diverse disciplines, is intended to provide an introduction to this growing field and information on its 'central terms, concepts, topics, issues, themes, debates, theories, and texts.' It includes a chronology of motherhood, and comprehensive thematic, geographic, historic, literary, and biographical coverage of the people, works, and topics within this growing scholarly area.... Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through graduate students; general readers."-CHOICE
“This work seeks to present the ‘central terms, concepts, topics, issues, debates, theories, and texts of this new discipline of motherhood studies.’ Editor O’Reilly is a well-respected and prolific scholar in the field, and she has created an accessible and interesting resource. Arranged in A-Z format, the more than 700 entries cover historical and modern theories and concepts as well as prominent mothers (Adams, Abigail; Jefferson, Thomas, mother of; Obama, Michelle)…. Entries are written in language easy for the lay reader to understand but with enough details for scholars to be satisfied…. Also available as an e-book.”
