When anxious mothers meet social media: WeChat, motherhood and the imaginary of the good life

Meng, Bingchun (2020) When anxious mothers meet social media: WeChat, motherhood and the imaginary of the good life. Javnost - the Public, 27 (2). 171 - 185. ISSN 1318-3222

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Abstract

In this article I have tried to unpack the anxiety of Chinese middle-class mothers through examining the dialectics of structural changes and discursive shifts. The theoretical premises are that, on the one hand, China’s highly compressed modernisation process has had a major impact on parenting arrangements and parenting ethos; on the other hand, the practice of mothering and the imaginary of motherhood have significant implications for social reproduction. Combining empirical materials collected through a social media platform, in-depth interviews and focus groups, I have teased out the classed imaginaries of good mothering and how these are subsequently linked to imaginaries of the good life.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rjav20
Additional Information:	© 2020 EURICOM
Divisions:	Media and Communications
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Woman H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions T Technology H Social Sciences > HM Sociology
Date Deposited:	31 Jan 2020 11:36
Last Modified:	12 Dec 2024 02:03
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/103232

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