The book investigates why, how, and with what implications some of these mothers describe themselves as "militant lactivists" as well as reflects on wider parenting culture in the UK and France. Discussing gender, feminism, and activism, this study contributes to kinship and family studies...

List of Illustrations List of Tables Foreword Acknowledgments Introduction PART I: THE CONTEXT OF CONTEMPORARY MOTHERING Chapter 1. Intensive motherhood and identity work An anthropology of parenting? Parenting and/as kinship The UK context Intensive mothering Intensive motherhood: ‘Local moral world’ Historicising intensive motherhood Mothering as identity work: Narrative processes of self-making   Chapter 2. Infant feeding and intensive motherhood Breastfeeding The scientific case for breastfeeding The context of infant feeding 1900-present Infant feeding and policy Choosing to breastfeed: Informed choice? Infant feeding and maternal identity PART II: LA LECHE LEAGUE           Chapter 3. Contextualising ‘full-term’ breastfeeding La Leche League Research sample Demographic profile: Who comes to LLL meetings? Non-participant observation Accounts Experiences Case-study Contextualising full-term breastfeeding Breastfeeding, body boundaries and individuality Defence strategies Chapter 4. La Leche League: Philosophy and community A typical meeting La Leche League’s philosophy The founding of LLL Great Britain (LLLGB) Paradoxes of appeal LLL and attachment parenting LLL for all mothers? Chapter 5. ‘Finding my tribe’ Why do people come to La Leche League meetings? ‘Finding my tribe’ Norms La Leche League as purposeful network Norms Activism Resistance PART III: ACCOUNTING FOR FULL-TERM BREASTFEEDING Chapter 6. ‘It’s natural’: some cultural contradictions Types of natural: Some accounts Natural parenting Evolutionary narratives: Primates and ‘primitives’ ‘Natural’ mothering: Feminism and fathers Cultural contradictions of going natural A return to anthropology? Postscript Chapter 7. ‘What science says is best’: Science as dogma The scientific claim for full-term breastfeeding and attachment parenting Psychological evidence Neuroscience: ‘Real evidence’ ‘The Science’ ‘The Science’ and ‘informed choice’ Chapter 8. ‘What feels right in my heart’: Hormones, morality and affective breastfeeding Because of the hormones: ‘It feels right’ Affective breastfeeding Instinct and intuition: Some contradictions Agency when you ‘just know’ A moral good? Affect sensuality and breastfeeding Non-nutritive sucking, or, The affective residue PART IV: CONTEXTUALISING INTENSIVE MOTHERHOOD Chapter 9. Mothering as identity work in cross-cultural perspective: The case of France Making selves: Separation and attachment Paris: A comparison           LLL France Doubled reflexivity French parenting: Non-intensive motherhood? It’s natural? Feminism and (full-term) breastfeeding in France ‘Réunions à théme’: Attachment mothers in Paris Expressing milk: The French way? Conclusion                                                                                                            Appendices Appendix I: Short term and long-term health benefits of breastfeeding for the child and mother in developed countries Appendix II: Summary of demographic results from questionnaire responses Notes References Index

“This is a fascinating topic and a very interesting study and would be a worthwhile and relevant read to those interested in research linked to motherhood, parenthood, family and gender. The book is well written, and the author adopts an engaging writing style that is easy to follow…The quotations used in the book provide a useful and real insight into these women’s experiences, as their mindsets and attitudes towards breastfeeding really brought the book to life…The appeal of this book is clearly far reaching, be it from an individual and general interest in the subject matter, or to gain a more theoretical knowledge and understanding of the debates it touches on and explores.” • Sociological Research Online “This is an attentive ethnography of women in London and Paris who are members of the international breastfeeding support organisation La Leche League (LLL)… The book is written in a clear and engaging way and can be recommended to students and scholars interested in kinship and family studies, as well as for those looking for a good anthropological study on contemporary motherhood.” • Social Anthropology/Anthropologie sociale “This is a captivating, original, and methodologically sound study, which will make an important contribution to anthropological work on contemporary motherhood. It deserves to be much more widely read, however, by scholars in many other disciplines and outside the academy.” • Ellie Lee, University of Kent “The cross-cultural dimension is one of the things that make this book unique and especially valuable…Overall, the book is on an important topic, based on sound research. This is a major contribution to scholarship on parenting, and a compelling study of a subject now in the forefront of public debate.” • Linda Layne, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute/University of Cambridge