State Socialism for Australian Mothers
Andrew Fisher's Radical Maternalism in its International and Local Contexts
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2750554 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Marilyn Lake (0000-0002-9288-5808, corresponding author), Marilyn Lake Marilyn Lake |
| Year | 2012 |
| Issue | 102 |
| Pages | 55 |
| Publication date | 2012-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Labour History (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0023-6942 • E-ISSN: 1839-3039 |
| Publisher | Liverpool University Press (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.5263/labourhistory.102.0055 |
| OpenAlex | W4244764760 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
In 1912 Labor Prime Minister Andrew Fisher introduced one of the most radical measures of his government. The Maternity Allowance Act was radical in at least three respects: first, it was ‘socialistic’ in providing a state payment from general revenue to mothers in their capacity as citizens; second, it recognised the legitimacy of the claims of unmarried mothers on the state (unlike in the 1950s and 1960s when single mothers had their babies taken away for adoption); and third, its direct payment to women by the state undermined the traditional patriarchal power exercised by husbands in the family. Australian scholarship has tended to disparage this innovation as a ‘baby bonus’ imposed on women cast as ‘breeders for the body politic’. Closer attention to its international and national contexts, however, suggests that this very popular measure was a response to women’s new found political power
Body politic · Legitimacy · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Power (physics) · Scholarship · Sociology · State (computer science) · Australian History and Society · Gender Studies · Historical Gender and Feminism Studies · Historical Studies on Reproduction, Gender, Health, and Societal Changes · Law
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,18 |
| Citation span | 2015 - 2022 (8) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |