Homelessness and becoming a mother
The continuing influence of Beverley Skeggs' Formations of Class and Gender
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3950986 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Juliet Watson (0000-0002-0855-8944, RMIT University, corresponding author), Freda Haylett (La Trobe University), Jacqui Theobald (0000-0002-8872-119X, La Trobe University), Suellen Murray (RMIT University) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 73 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 325-343 |
| Publication date | 2025-03-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Sociological Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0038-0261 • E-ISSN: 1467-954X |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/00380261241310009 |
| OpenAlex | W4408144424 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 45 |
Beverley Skeggs' landmark text Formations of Class and Gender was at the forefront of identifying how gendered and classed subjectivities are produced. This work changed the landscape of sociology, and it continues to open up opportunities for sociologists to consider how intersectional privileges and oppressions are instrumental in subjectivity construction. Building on Skeggs' legacy, this article considers how women experiencing homelessness navigate the shifting and complex dynamics of this field in the construction of mothering subjectivities. Drawing on qualitative research conducted in Australia that explored women's experiences of homelessness and pregnancy, this article discusses how mothering subjectivities are generated through constructed notions of the 'good' mother and the barriers mothers face in both enacting these discourses and in meeting the high moral standards of 'good' mothering without adequate resources and structural supports. We explore how, in an effort to overcome internalised shame and questions of respectability, they actively contest the negative associations which call into question their moral standing as good mothers by engaging in forms of invisible labour. By expanding on Skeggs' theoretical framework, this article challenges hegemonic concepts of homelessness that neglect alternative subjectivities, and instead explores the processes and practices that are shaped by social positioning to reveal the punitive consequences and transformative possibilities involved in becoming a mother while homeless
Class (philosophy) · Criminology · Epistemology · Sociology · Gender Studies · Gender, Feminism, and Media · Homelessness and Social Issues · Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism · Philosophy
The cultural contradictions of motherhood
Qualitative Researching with Text, Image and Sound
Using the framework method for the analysis of qualitative data in multi-disciplinary health research
Of Woman Born
Distinction
Neoliberalism, Austerity, and the Moral Economies of Young People’s Health and Well-being
Formations of Class and Gender
On Female Body Experience
The Logic of Practice
Invisible Mothers
Australian Mothering
Foodwork and foodcare in hard times
Supporting Pregnant Women Experiencing Homelessness
Governing homeless mothers
Understanding Contemporary Homelessness
Mother Love
African-American homeless and low-income housed mothers
Parenting in homeless families
Imagining Personhood Differently
Social capital
Gender-Based Violence and Young Homeless Women
Reflexivity
In Other Words
Youth homelessness
I just wanted somewhere safe
The symbolic burden of homelessness
Bargaining With Patriarchy
Doing Gender
Cultural Capital, Motherhood Capital, and Low-income Immigrant Mothers' Institutional Negotiations
Gender, Habitus and the Field
Academic Knowledge and Contemporary Poverty
Conceiving and Investigating Motherhood
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |