Dr. Theresa Devasahayam is a research fellow at the University of Wollongong, focusing on gender relations and women's status within and outside the household in relation to wage employment and global changes. Currently, she is researching the role of local and transnational advocacy networks in Singapore and Malaysia. Professor Brenda S.A. Yeoh is Head of the Southeast Asian Studies Programme at the National University of Singapore. Besides writing extensively on many issues, she is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society/Institute of British Geographers and edits of the journal Gender, Place & Culture.

• Introduction (Theresa W. Devasahayam and Brenda S.A. Yeoh); 1 Postmodern Motherhoods and Cultural Contest in Malaysia and Singapore (Maila Stivens); 2 Contradictions in Maternal Roles in Contemporary Japan (Keiko Hirao); 3 The Career Mother in Matrimonial and Custody Proceedings in Singapore (Debbie Ong); 4 Working and Mothering in Late Vietnamese Socialism (Daniele Belanger and Xavier Oudin); 5 Impact of Maternal Employment on Child Health in North India (Santosh Jatrana); 6 Constructions of Mothering: Female Filipino Overseas Workers (Carolyn I. Sobritchea); 7 Sexy Mothers in Sabah (Anne-Marie Hilsdon); 8 Motherhood Shifts When Chinese Families Relocate (Janet W. Salaff, Arent Greve and Xuan Chen); Index.

"'This is a book that contains a treasure of ethnographic facts and detailed information for the reader interested in social and cultural systems in Southeast Asia... and conveys in-depth knowledge from scholars with long experience from the area' (external reviewer)."