Militant Lactivism?

Charlotte Faircloth is Associate Professor of Social Science in the UCL Social Research Institute, UK.

• List of IllustrationsList of TablesForewordAcknowledgmentsIntroductionPART I: THE CONTEXT OF CONTEMPORARY MOTHERINGChapter 1. Intensive motherhood and identity workAn anthropology of parenting?Parenting and/as kinshipThe UK contextIntensive motheringIntensive motherhood: ‘Local moral world’Historicising intensive motherhoodMothering as identity work: Narrative processes of self-making Chapter 2. Infant feeding and intensive motherhoodBreastfeedingThe scientific case for breastfeedingThe context of infant feeding 1900-presentInfant feeding and policyChoosing to breastfeed: Informed choice?Infant feeding and maternal identityPART II: LA LECHE LEAGUE          Chapter 3. Contextualising ‘full-term’ breastfeedingLa Leche LeagueResearch sampleDemographic profile: Who comes to LLL meetings?Non-participant observationAccountsExperiencesCase-studyContextualising full-term breastfeedingBreastfeeding, body boundaries and individualityDefence strategiesChapter 4. La Leche League: Philosophy and communityA typical meetingLa Leche League’s philosophyThe founding of LLL Great Britain (LLLGB)Paradoxes of appealLLL and attachment parentingLLL for all mothers?Chapter 5. ‘Finding my tribe’Why do people come to La Leche League meetings?‘Finding my tribe’NormsLa Leche League as purposeful networkNormsActivismResistancePART III: ACCOUNTING FOR FULL-TERM BREASTFEEDINGChapter 6. ‘It’s natural’: some cultural contradictionsTypes of natural: Some accountsNatural parentingEvolutionary narratives: Primates and ‘primitives’‘Natural’ mothering: Feminism and fathersCultural contradictions of going naturalA return to anthropology?PostscriptChapter 7. ‘What science says is best’: Science as dogmaThe scientific claim for full-term breastfeeding and attachment parentingPsychological evidenceNeuroscience: ‘Real evidence’‘The Science’‘The Science’ and ‘informed choice’Chapter 8. ‘What feels right in my heart’: Hormones, morality and affective breastfeedingBecause of the hormones: ‘It feels right’Affective breastfeedingInstinct and intuition: Some contradictionsAgency when you ‘just know’A moral good?Affect sensuality and breastfeedingNon-nutritive sucking, or, The affective residuePART IV: CONTEXTUALISING INTENSIVE MOTHERHOODChapter 9. Mothering as identity work in cross-cultural perspective: The case of FranceMaking selves: Separation and attachmentParis: A comparison          LLL FranceDoubled reflexivityFrench parenting: Non-intensive motherhood?It’s natural? Feminism and (full-term) breastfeeding in France‘Réunions à théme’: Attachment mothers in ParisExpressing milk: The French way?Conclusion                                                                                                            AppendicesAppendix I: Short term and long-term health benefits of breastfeeding for the child and mother in developed countriesAppendix II: Summary of demographic results from questionnaire responsesNotesReferencesIndex

“This is a fascinating topic and a very interesting study and would be a worthwhile and relevant read to those interested in research linked to motherhood, parenthood, family and gender. The book is well written, and the author adopts an engaging writing style that is easy to follow…The quotations used in the book provide a useful and real insight into these women’s experiences, as their mindsets and attitudes towards breastfeeding really brought the book to life…The appeal of this book is clearly far reaching, be it from an individual and general interest in the subject matter, or to gain a more theoretical knowledge and understanding of the debates it touches on and explores.” • Sociological Research Online“This is an attentive ethnography of women in London and Paris who are members of the international breastfeeding support organisation La Leche League (LLL)… The book is written in a clear and engaging way and can be recommended to students and scholars interested in kinship and family studies, as well as for those looking for a good anthropological study on contemporary motherhood.” • Social Anthropology/Anthropologie sociale“This is a captivating, original, and methodologically sound study, which will make an important contribution to anthropological work on contemporary motherhood. It deserves to be much more widely read, however, by scholars in many other disciplines and outside the academy.” • Ellie Lee, University of Kent“The cross-cultural dimension is one of the things that make this book unique and especially valuable…Overall, the book is on an important topic, based on sound research. This is a major contribution to scholarship on parenting, and a compelling study of a subject now in the forefront of public debate.” • Linda Layne, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute/University of Cambridge