Young Mothers, Moral Experience, and the Politics of Care

Abstract

This introductory chapter reflects on three strands of scholarship that shape analysis of moral experience and care among young mothers. The chapter begins with the story of a young mother who expresses her desire to live on her own, just with her child, a statement that challenges ideals of Andean relatedness and hegemonic Hispanic ideologies of patriarchal families. This story sets the stage to argue that moral engagement is part of ordinary life. Attention to broad structural inequalities and the micro-politics of interactions are crucial to account for the complex meanings of her statement and the moral and practical dilemmas she, and other young mothers, face in the Peruvian Andes. In addition to detailing the ethnographic context, research methodology, and ethics, the chapter incorporates discussion of recent anthropological scholarship on morality; on the dialogical or joint production of language, subjectivity, and sociality; and on reproduction, relatedness, and the intimate labor of care.