Mothers Unite!: Organizing for Workplace Flexibility and the Transformation of Family Life, a “bold and hopeful new book that serves as both a rallying cry for changing the relationship between home and the workplace,” is now available for purchase from ILR Press, an imprint of Cornell University Press.
In this new publication, Bloustein professor Jocelyn Elise Crowley envisions a genuine, universal world of workplace flexibility that helps mothers who stay at home, those who work part time, and those who work full time balance their commitments to their jobs and their families. Achieving this goal, she argues, will require a broad-based movement that harnesses the energy of existing organizations of mothers that already support workplace flexibility in their own ways.
Crowley examines the efforts of five diverse national mothers’ organizations: Mocha Moms, which aims to assist mothers of color; Mothers of Preschoolers (MOPS), which stresses the promotion of Christian values; Mothers & More, which emphasizes support for those moving in and out of the paid workforce; MomsRising, which focuses on online political advocacy; and the National Association of Mothers’ Centers (NAMC), which highlights community-based networking. After providing an engaging and detailed account of the history, membership profiles, strategies, and successes of each of these organizations, Crowley suggests actions that will allow greater workplace flexibility to become a viable reality and points to many opportunities to promote intergroup mobilization and unite mothers once and for all.
This book is available directly from Cornell University Press. Customers in Europe should order from U.K.-based distributor NBN International; customers in Australia and New Zealand can order from Footprint Books. It will also be available shortly as an ebook from Amazon/Kindle, Google Play, Kobo, and the Apple iBookstore.
A professor of public policy at the Rutgers University’s Bloustein School, Jocelyn Elise Crowley is also a member of the Graduate Faculty in the Department of Political Science and Affiliated Faculty Member of the Department of Women’s and Gender Studies at Rutgers. She is the author of Defiant Dads: Fathers’ Rights Activists in America, also from Cornell, and The Politics of Child Support in America.
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Praise for Mothers Unite!
“Mothers Unite! helps us understand an issue that completely puzzles citizens from other countries: why the over 70 percent of American women who work outside the home do not mobilize politically around issues of daycare, maternity leave, and flexible work practices. Better still, it offers a blueprint for change. A very interesting read!”
–Anne-Marie Slaughter, Bert G. Kerstetter ’66 University Professor of Politics and International Affairs, Princeton University, author of The Idea that Is America: Keeping Faith with Our Values in a Dangerous World
“Kudos to Jocelyn Elise Crowley for addressing a question that few have dared ask: How can we bridge the real and illusory divides that separate employed and nonemployed women? While others focus on the putative mommy wars, Crowley shows clearly and convincingly that mothers from diverse backgrounds share common interests and possess the potential to become a powerful political force. This book is a must for anyone who cares about creating a more flexible, humane, and family-supportive workplace.”
–Kathleen Gerson, Collegiate Professor of Arts & Science, New York University, author of The Unfinished Revolution: Coming of Age in a New Era of Gender, Work, and Family
“Mothers Unite! addresses a timely and important topic. The potential for mothers’ mobilization takes on special urgency today. Contested images of motherhood play a prominent role in current culture wars, and mothers’ vulnerability is heightened in the prevailing economic and political climate. Jocelyn Elise Crowley’s research on mothers groups’ stances toward workplace flexibility addresses a long-standing conundrum: why are policies that appear to offer benefits to employers and employees alike so infrequently implemented? Crowley’s answer to that question is new and original.”
–Pamela Stone, Hunter College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, author of Opting Out?: Why Women Really Quit Careers and Head Home
“Mothers Unite! takes us beyond the Mommy Wars to paint a picture of hope: the prospect of diverse mothers’ groups coming together to work for a better future. Jocelyn Elise Crowley intelligently unpacks abstract ideas about flexibility and mothers’ solidarity (or lack thereof) to provide a clear road map for moving forward. Her book will open endless avenues for activism on behalf of families. She has made a truly meaningful contribution.”
–Judith Warner, author of Perfect Madness: Motherhood In the Age of Anxiety