Mothering from the Field: The Impact of Motherhood on Site-Based Research

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Mothering from the Field

The Impact of Motherhood on Site-Based Research

Edited by: and
With contributions by: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , and

Language: English

Published/Copyright: 2019

About this book

The heated national conversation about gender equality and women in the workforce is something that women in academia have been concerned with and writing about for at least a decade. Overall, the conversation has focused on identifying how women in general and mothers in particular fair in the academy as a whole, as well as offering tips on how to maximize success. Aside from a long-standing field-specific debate in anthropology, rare are the volumes focusing on the particulars of motherhood’s impacts on how scientific research is conducted, particularly when it comes to field research.

Mothering from the Field offers both a mosaic of perspectives from current women scientists’ experiences of conducting field research across a variety of sub-disciplines while raising children, and an analytical framework to understand how we can redefine methodological and theoretical contributions based on mothers’ experiences in order not just to promote healthier, more inclusive, nurturing, and supportive environments in physical, life, and social sciences, but also to revolutionize how we conceptualize research.

Author / Editor information

Bahiyyah M. Muhammad is an assistant professor in the department of sociology and criminology at Howard University in Washington, D.C.

Mélanie-Angela Neuilly is an associate professor in the department of criminal justice and criminology at Washington State University in Pullman.

Reviews

"Mothering From the Field provides just the right mix of academic research on women in field- work-intensive fields, discussion of the institutional responsibilities of the academy, cautionary tales of the struggles of combining parenting and field work, and (to me) most importantly, practical 'can do' advice on how to do 'what needs to be done.' I recommend taking this book and your kids (and a sturdy stroller) and going for it!"

— Rachel Connelly, co-author of Professor Mommy: Finding Work-Family Balance in Academia

"Selected New Books on Higher Education" compiled by Ki-Jana Deadwyler and Ruth Hammond
https://www.chronicle.com/article/Selected-New-Books-on-Higher/246666

— Chronicle of Higher Education

Topics

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Frontmatter
i

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Contents
vii

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Introduction
1
Mélanie-Angela Neuilly and Bahiyyah Miallah Muhammad

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Part I. Women and Mothers Doing Field Research: What Do We Know?
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Introduction
9
Mélanie- Angela Neuilly

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1. Women Working in the Field: Perspectives from STEM and Beyond
11
Kelly Ward, Lisa Wolf-Wendel and Lindsey Marco

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2. Fieldwork and Parenting in Archaeology
27
Stacey L. Camp

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Part II. The Truth Is, It Will Be Hard: The Difficulties of Doing Field Research for Mothers
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Introduction
43
Bahiyyah Miallah Muhammad

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3. Malaria and Spider- Man: Conducting Ethnographic Research in Niger with a Three- Year- Old
47
Kelley Sams

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4. Birthing in the Field
62
Lydia Zacher Dixon

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5. Looking at the Field from Afar and Bringing It Closer to Home
76
Cecilia Vindrola-Padros

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Part III. Teamwork Makes the Dream Work: The Importance of Networks and Family Support
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Introduction
89
Bahiyyah Miallah Muhammad

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6. Parenting through the Field: Criminal Justice Ethnography, Cinematography, and Field Photography in Africa with Our Babies
91
Bahiyyah Miallah Muhammad and Muntaquim Muhammad

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7. Privilege, (In)Competence, and Worth: Conflicting Emotions of the Student- Mom and Her Support Community
108
Grace Karram Stephenson, John Stephenson and Joanne Florence Karram

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8. Fathering in Support of Fieldwork: Lactation and Bourgeois Feminism (and More Privileged White People’s Problems)
124
Brian C. Wolf

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Part IV. This Too Shall Pass: Field Research before, during, and after Motherhood
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Introduction
135
Mélanie- Angela Neuilly

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9. Lactating in the Autopsy Room: Mothering from the Field When the Field Is a Morgue and Your Child Is a Nursing Infant
139
Mélanie-Angela Neuilly

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10. Fieldwork Adventures on the Mommy Track
155
Anne Hardgrove

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11. Mommy in the Field: Raising Children and Breeding Plants
171
Kimberly Garland Campbell

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Part V. What Is the Field, Anyway? Mothers Redefining Field Methodologies
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Introduction
181
Mélanie- Angela Neuilly

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12. Entangled Knowledge: On the Labor of Mothering and Anthropological Fieldwork
185
Sarah Kelman

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13. “Manman, Poukisa Y’ap Rele M Blan?” (Mama, Why Are They Calling Me a White?): Research and Mothering in Haiti
201
Marylynn Steckley

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14. Birthing the Social Scientist as Mother
222
Deirdre Guthrie

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15. Two Notes on Bringing Children Other Than Your Own in the Field
239
Aprille Ericsson, Dawn Ericsson Provine, Arielle Ericsson White, Mikae Provine, Pierre Ericsson, Bahiyyah Miallah Muhammad and Mélanie-Angela Neuilly

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Part VI. Practical Solutions to Complex Problems: Because Mothers Can Do Anything!
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Introduction
251
Bahiyyah Miallah Muhammad

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16. “I Don’t Know How You Do It!”: Countering a Narrative that Presumes that Researching and Mothering Are Incompatible
253
Ryanne Pilgeram

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17. Ethnographic Research in Africa: The Hidden Costs of Conducting Fieldwork for Mothers with Children
264
Bahiyyah Miallah Muhammad

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Conclusion
272
Bahiyyah Miallah Muhammad and Mélanie-Angela Neuilly

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Acknowledgments
281

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Notes on Contributors
283

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Index
293

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Publishing information

Pages and Images/Illustrations in book

eBook published on:

September 30, 2020

eBook ISBN:

9781978800601

Pages and Images/Illustrations in book

https://doi.org/10.36019/9781978800601

eBook ISBN: 9781978800601

Keywords for this book

Women scientists; conducting research; mothers; revolutionize research; gender equality; women in the workforce; anthropology; mothers in STEM; Feminism; family support; Archaeology; mothers doing field research

Audience(s) for this book

For universities and colleges of further and higher education

Rutgers University Press

Mothering from the Field

Overview

About this book

Author / Editor information

Reviews

Topics

Table of contents

Frontmatter

Contents

Introduction

Introduction

1. Women Working in the Field: Perspectives from STEM and Beyond

2. Fieldwork and Parenting in Archaeology

Introduction

3. Malaria and Spider- Man: Conducting Ethnographic Research in Niger with a Three- Year- Old

4. Birthing in the Field

5. Looking at the Field from Afar and Bringing It Closer to Home

Introduction

6. Parenting through the Field: Criminal Justice Ethnography, Cinematography, and Field Photography in Africa with Our Babies

7. Privilege, (In)Competence, and Worth: Conflicting Emotions of the Student- Mom and Her Support Community

8. Fathering in Support of Fieldwork: Lactation and Bourgeois Feminism (and More Privileged White People’s Problems)

Introduction

9. Lactating in the Autopsy Room: Mothering from the Field When the Field Is a Morgue and Your Child Is a Nursing Infant

10. Fieldwork Adventures on the Mommy Track

11. Mommy in the Field: Raising Children and Breeding Plants

Introduction

12. Entangled Knowledge: On the Labor of Mothering and Anthropological Fieldwork

13. “Manman, Poukisa Y’ap Rele M Blan?” (Mama, Why Are They Calling Me a White?): Research and Mothering in Haiti

14. Birthing the Social Scientist as Mother

15. Two Notes on Bringing Children Other Than Your Own in the Field

Introduction

16. “I Don’t Know How You Do It!”: Countering a Narrative that Presumes that Researching and Mothering Are Incompatible

17. Ethnographic Research in Africa: The Hidden Costs of Conducting Fieldwork for Mothers with Children

Conclusion

Acknowledgments

Notes on Contributors

Index

Bibliographic data