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Welfare Mom as Warrior Mom

Discourse in the 2003 Single Mothers' Protest in Israel

Bibliographic Data

ID2115437
AuthorsA Herbst-Debby (0000-0003-2365-9724, Bar-Ilan University, corresponding author), Anat Herbst
Year2013
Volume42
Issue1
Pages129-145
Publication date2013-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Social Policy (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0047-2794 • E-ISSN: 1469-7823
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0047279412000529
OpenAlexW2324665786
LanguageEN
Citations received37
References cited29

This study applies critical discourse analysis to the public discourse in Israel regarding the battle of single mothers against extensive welfare cuts. Using the protest of July 2003 as a case study, the article points to parallels between Israel's neo-liberal welfare discourse and that in the US, but also reveals a competing discourse in Israel that incorporated several basic cultural motifs: motherhood, militarism, Zionism and nationalism. While the latter discourse stresses the importance of motherhood and its contribution to society, the former presents single mothers as dependents living off the country's welfare resources. The discourse analysis shows that despite the seeming legitimacy of motherhood in Israel, especially of the Zionist mother who gives birth to soldiers, the negative imagery applied by the neo-liberal ideology to single mothers who receive allowances succeeded in eroding this legitimacy

Battle · Critical discourse analysis · Developmental psychology · Discourse analysis · Economics · Ideology · Legitimacy · Militarism · Nationalism · Parallels · Political science · Politics · Public discourse · Single mothers · Sociology · Welfare · Zionism · Gender Studies · History · Jewish and Middle Eastern Studies · Law · Middle East Politics and Society · Migration, Refugees, and Integration · Psychology

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Unique citing works37
Citations per year2,85
Citation span2013 - 2026 (14)
Citation velocitycurrent
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 36
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