Mechthild Hart - Böcker

While society may applaud middle and upper class women who decide to stay home to raise their children, there exists a decided abhorrence for single mothers, welfare queens, who collect public funds but do not work. Here, Hart challenges traditional notions of welfare mothers by providing first-hand accounts of poor urban mothers and revealing the life-affirming and moral aspects of their motherwork--a form of subsistence work, involving many tasks that incorporate the physical, psychological, emotional, and spiritual dimensions of life. Though the mothering work these women do is vilified in public discourse as unnecessary and unwanted, the author contends that the ethical and epistemological dimensions of life-affirming work--a key component of motherwork--not only structure social-political activism but also educational efforts that are oriented towards radical change. Concrete experiences of motherwork, policy analyses regarding welfare reform, efforts oriented towards educational and epistemological border-crossings, and collective struggles for social change are examined here in a larger theoretical, political-economic framework.Pulling together the many strands of different theoretical fields addressing issues related to critical/transformative pedagogy, community activism, and forms of unpaid work, this unique work calls for the unlearning of ways of thinking and feeling which uphold prejudices and life-threatening social-political hierarchies. While the public may sneer at women who choose to accept welfare in order to stay home to raise their children, these mothers must continue to perform this invisible work in order that their children may break the cycle of poverty in which they are entrenched. The author examines ways in which these mothers organize and carry out educational efforts and political work in the context of extreme poverty and against the harsh criticisms of an unforgiving public. Ultimately, Hart hopes to convince the public of the inherent importance of motherwork and break down the prejudices that have worked against the urban poor and single mothers.

Discover different dimensions of the meaning of home across political, cultural, and geographic boundaries!Psychological, Political, and Cultural Meanings of Home brings a unique multidisciplinary, multicultural approach to address the interconnection of diverse experiences with the meaning of home. Filled with useful insights from respected authorities, this book shows you that the meaning of home can be incredibly varied, especially when viewed in the context of community psychology and social work. Explore the multiple facets of the meaning of “home,” and discover how our personal, professional, cultural, and political background contributes to how we envision or experience home.From physical dwellings such as a convent or a prison, through political frameworks that confirm or challenge the status quo, on through the related meanings of home that cross cultural and geographical boundaries, Psychological, Political, and Cultural Meanings of Home presents an added dimension of what home truly can be. You will learn that home is a volatile mix of yearning and loss, of being at home or searching for it, and that this very mix is the framework that reflects each differing belief.With Psychological, Political, and Cultural Meanings of Home you’ll explore:the changing meanings of home for Taiwanese employers of foreign domestics under globalizationthe opportunities and critical success factors for work and career in the homethe complexities and restrictions of convent life as homehow women detainees in a large urban county jail form altered definitions of “home”how novelists can give a powerful voice to the homeless by creating an inner image that contains all essential elements of homethe cultural constructions surrounding the ambiguous lyrics of “Sweet Home Chicago”the role of childhood immigration in the construction of self-identitythe relationship between country of origin and the ability to create a sense of home in other countries and culturesthe recreation of home in diverse places by the nomad, who carries home as an essential psychological belonging withinPsychological, Political, and Cultural Meanings of Home is a fascinating, eye-opening book for those in community studies, psychology, sociology, culture studies, literature, and women’s studies.

Discover different dimensions of the meaning of home across political, cultural, and geographic boundaries!Psychological, Political, and Cultural Meanings of Home brings a unique multidisciplinary, multicultural approach to address the interconnection of diverse experiences with the meaning of home. Filled with useful insights from respected authorities, this book shows you that the meaning of home can be incredibly varied, especially when viewed in the context of community psychology and social work. Explore the multiple facets of the meaning of “home,” and discover how our personal, professional, cultural, and political background contributes to how we envision or experience home.From physical dwellings such as a convent or a prison, through political frameworks that confirm or challenge the status quo, on through the related meanings of home that cross cultural and geographical boundaries, Psychological, Political, and Cultural Meanings of Home presents an added dimension of what home truly can be. You will learn that home is a volatile mix of yearning and loss, of being at home or searching for it, and that this very mix is the framework that reflects each differing belief.With Psychological, Political, and Cultural Meanings of Home you’ll explore:the changing meanings of home for Taiwanese employers of foreign domestics under globalizationthe opportunities and critical success factors for work and career in the homethe complexities and restrictions of convent life as homehow women detainees in a large urban county jail form altered definitions of “home”how novelists can give a powerful voice to the homeless by creating an inner image that contains all essential elements of homethe cultural constructions surrounding the ambiguous lyrics of “Sweet Home Chicago”the role of childhood immigration in the construction of self-identitythe relationship between country of origin and the ability to create a sense of home in other countries and culturesthe recreation of home in diverse places by the nomad, who carries home as an essential psychological belonging withinPsychological, Political, and Cultural Meanings of Home is a fascinating, eye-opening book for those in community studies, psychology, sociology, culture studies, literature, and women’s studies.

Originally published in 1992, this book presents an alternative view of adult education. The author moves the analysis from the usual focus in adult education literature on skills and skill deficits, and concentrates instead on the educational potential of work itself. By linking issues of gender and the developing world, an alternative concept of work and productivity is formulated, serving as the basis for new approaches and paradigms in adult education. The book draws on two decades of studying critical social, political and economic, educational and feminist theory and examines the link between the international and sexual division of labour, and at the relationship between work, nature and technology.