Motherhood In and Against the State

Motherhood was once at the centre of the feminist movement’s demands, from campaigns for reproductive rights and Wages For Housework, to the mobilisation of anti-nuclear mums at Greenham Common. But in the 21st century, the politicisation of mothering seems to have shrunk in its ambition.

In her new book Mother State: A Political History of Motherhood, literary scholar and historian Helen Charman tells the story of motherhood in the UK and Ireland from the 1970s to the 2010s.

From Margaret Thatcher’s weaponisation of femininity to Stella Creasy’s support for the capping child benefit, she explains how the relationship between mothers and the state is never anything but awkward – and often violent.

Charman joins Rivkah Brown to talk about both the repressive uses of mothering and its liberatory potential.