CFP: Incarcerated Mothers: Oppression and Resistance

From the FLP mailbox:

CALL FOR PAPERS

Demeter Pressis seeking submissions for an edited collection on:

Incarcerated Mothers: Oppression and Resistance.

Co-Editors: Gordana Eljdupovic and Rebecca Jaremko Bromwich.

Publication Date: 2012

Deadline for abstracts: May 31, 2011.

A large proportion – and in many jurisdictions the majority – of incarcerated women are mothers. Popular attention is often paid to challenges faced by children of incarcerated mothers while incarcerated women themselves often do not “count” as mothers in mainstream discourse. This anthology will explore complex issues relating to incarcerated mothers, from connections between mothering and incarceration, through criminalization of motherhood to understanding experiences of mothers in prison.

This book will examine how incarcerated mothers are ascribed identities, and especially how society scripts of the mother role and what “counts” as a “good” or “real” mother in Western patriarchal society. We encourage submissions that interrogate popular discourses about mothering, virtue and criminalization and especially those that focus on resistance and agency by incarcerated mothers.

Suggested topics include, but are not limited to: -health of  mothers in prison -,- experiences of mothers in prison, -representations of incarcerated mothers in popular culture – prison narratives by and about mothers- history of incarcerated mothers- public policy- the law, – stated above – Criminalization of pregnancy and motherhood -constructing identities  – survival patterns as incarcerated mothers- negative cultural portrayals of mothers who are criminalized  – relationship of patriarchal discursive systems to portrayals of incarcerated mothers – Incarcerated mothers in the press and other mainstream cultural media – adolescent incarcerated mothers – race, class, ethnicity and incarcerated mothers – foster families and incarcerated mothers- mother and caregiver relationships – mothers after incarceration – transitioning from carceral settings to the community – Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgendered and Transsexual incarcerated mothers – gender identity, criminalization and the social construction of motherhood

Submission Guidelines: Abstracts should be 250 words. Please also include a brief biography, including citizenship (50 words).

Please send to Rebecca@jbbarrister.com.  Accepted Papers of 4000-5000 words (15-20 pages) will be due November 1, 2011 and should conform to MLA citation format.

-Bridget Crawford