Abstract
AbstractMotherhood can be understood in myriad forms – as a practice, a set of values, and/or an experience – all of which are shaped by political norms, public policies, and gender role expectations. Both Locke and Hobbes, liberal political theorists whose ideas were central to the development of US politics and political institutions, conceptualized motherhood to be within the realm of the private and thus apolitical, leaving the specific idea and practice of motherhood essentially unexamined. Others, like Rousseau, assumed that natural or biological differences between the sexes rendered women relatively incapable of political power and participation. Feminist thinkers have challenged these conceptualizations and have urged us to explore the ways in which political, social, and economic factors shape the experiences of, and beliefs about, motherhood. This latter body of work is not without tensions either, as scholars shift between critiquing and recuperating motherhood, arguing over its centrality to feminist politics. This entry examines political thought as conceived by liberal political thinkers as well as critics of their writings. It fast‐forwards to debates about motherhood in feminist theory and between feminists and conservatives from the 1970s to the time of writing, highlighting how scholars negotiate among competing values of individualism, community, gender differences, and equality. Of course, conceptualizations of motherhood are much broader theoretically and geographically, but in the space allotted here, the focus is on political thought that has directly shaped cultural beliefs and institutions that govern US practices and policies.