I felt sad then, I feel free now
A Case for Examining the Constructive Resistance of Opted-Out Mothers
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6058989 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Melissa Yoong (0000-0001-5702-3615, University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus), Nourhan Mohamed (0000-0003-1197-2828, University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 43 |
| Issue | 5 |
| Pages | 849-869 |
| Publication date | 2024-06-13 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Equal Opportunities International (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1758-7093 • E-ISSN: 2040-7149 |
| Publisher | Emerald (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1108/edi-08-2022-0202 |
| OpenAlex | W4386788667 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 42 |
Purpose While past research has explored how opting-out enables mothers to break free from masculinist organizational cultures, less attention has been given to how they resist disciplinary power that constitutes and governs their subjectivities. This paper aims to add to the discussion of opting-out as a site of power and resistance by proposing the concept of “constructive resistance” as a productive vantage point for investigating opted-out mothers' subversive practices of self-making. Design/methodology/approach This Malaysian case study brings together the notion of constructive resistance, critical narrative analysis and APPRAISAL theory to examine the reflective stories of eighteen mothers who exited formal employment. These accounts were collected through an open-ended questionnaire and semi-structured email interviews. Findings The mothers in the sample tend to construct themselves in two main ways, as (1) valuable mothers (capable, tireless, caring mothers who are key figures in their children's lives) and (2) competent professionals. These subjectivities are parasitic on gendered and neoliberal ideals but allow the mothers to undermine neoliberal capitalist work arrangements that were incongruent with their personal values and adversely impacted their well-being, as well as refuse organizational narratives that positioned them as “failed” workers. Originality/value Whereas power is primarily seen in previous opting-out scholarship as centralized and constraining, this case study illustrates how the lens of constructive resistance can be beneficial for examining opted-out mothers' struggles against a less direct form of power that governs through the production of truths and subjectivities
Constructive · Narrative · Originality · Political science · Qualitative research · Scholarship · Social science · Sociology · Gender Diversity and Inequality · Gender Studies · Law · Psychology · Social Psychology · Work-Family Balance Challenges
Resistance Redux
Beyond Exchange
Corporate Mindfulness Culture and Neoliberalism
Keeping a Foot in the Door
Organizing beyond organization
Re-examining narrativity
Small stories and extended narratives on Twitter
The politics of time and temporality in Foucault’s theorisation of resistance
Re-claiming resilience and re-imagining welfare
Reverse Discourse” Revisited
It's not acceptable for the husband to stay at home
The Best Time is Now!’
Neoliberal feminism in old age
Exploring the lived experiences of Singapore’s “opt‐out” mothers
The ideological construction of mother identity in the discourse of four women of the lower socio-economic group from Santiago, Chile
Critical narrative analysis
The use of email interviewing as a qualitative method of inquiry in educational research
The other side of the story
Dispersed resistance
How Does Mode of Qualitative Data Collection Affect Data and Cost? Findings from a Quasi-experimental Study
Hierarchies, Jobs, Bodies
Self as Enterprise
Expressing breastmilk while on break and in private
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |