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Mother State

Helen Charman

Feminist politics of motherhood

It extends feminist political thought by centering motherhood within debates over the state and collective responsibility.

Synopsis

A contemporary feminist study using motherhood as a lens to rethink the state, care, and political belonging.

Core passage idea

Paraphrase · Modern copyrighted work

Motherhood is a deeply political relation, and how a society treats mothers and care reveals its underlying commitments about dependence and power.

It treats the maternal not as private sentiment but as a key to the politics of care and the state.

To avoid a bubble

Pair with Carole Pateman, The Sexual Contract.

Reading note

Read it as a blend of political argument and cultural analysis rather than a single tight thesis.

Best paired with

Carole Pateman, The Sexual Contract

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