Price: $39.95
Page Count: 286
Publication Date: March 2026
ISBN: 978-1-77258-574-2
This volume offers both theoretical advancements and methodological innovations within maternal scholarship. At the core of this work is the need to debunk normative notions of mothering and to center the value and impact of othermothering and community-based mothering practices. This central thread is well grounded in a methodological richness that comes from the use of diverse methods, including storytelling, fiction, literary critique and evocative reflections, to capture maternal thinking and practice. The centering of non-western contexts within these deliberations on alternative maternal knowledge systems and practice, adds to a much-needed global dialogue-
- Dr Talia Esnard, Senior Lecturer and Sociologist, Department of Behavioural Sciences, The University of the West Indies
“This provocative volume will move the discussion on othermothering forward in important ways. As shown, the practice has existed across the globe throughout history, under both benevolent and excruciating conditions for the survival of children, communities and our species. Taken together, the chapters show that the practice continues to evolve, helps to build community bonds, and has been used by people of all ages, genders and classes. The chapters also force the reader to recognize the ways in which women continue to develop agency, expertise and confidence, suggesting that the practice of othermothering is not a relic of ancient times or indigenous societies, but one that needs to be better understood, accommodated and redesigned for today’s societies. This volume challenges the idea that mothers and children are better off isolated in the home. Rather, both self and community grow as we encounter enabling others.”
- Professor Tόlá Olú Pearce, Sociology & Women’s and Gender Studies, University of Missouri, Columbia
Introduction: Multiple Perspectives on Othermothering and Community Mothering by Jane Alberdeston, Dorsía Smith Silva, and Dannabang Kuwabong
Other-Mothering as Mother-Othering in Feminist Utopia by Stephanie Sushko
Birthing Futures: Black Doulas, Othermothering, and Educational Praxis for Maternal and Community Health Across Generations by Angela N. Castañeda, Amber M. Neal-Stanley, and Julie Johnson Searcy
Dissociative Identity and Ancestral Voice in Sister Souljah’s A Deeper Love Inside: The Porsche Santiaga Story by Tracey Gholston
Othermothering and The Black Maternal in Their Eyes Were Watching God by Paula White
“You Ain’t Got No Sons Here. Ma-mee Our Mama and Our Daddy”: Familial Relationships and Othermothering in Jesmyn Ward’s Where the Line Bleeds by Yesmina Khedhir
Spiritual Migration and Community Mothering: Black Feminist Resistance in Assata Shakur’s Narrative by Juyoun Jang
“With as Many Other Moms Around as Possible”: Exploring Queer and Trans Representations of Caregiving in Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters by Charley Koenig
Nurturing the Neighborhood: Expanding Maternal Boundaries in Call the Midwife by Catherine A. Dobris
Maternal Boundaries of Othermothers and Community Mothers by Amanda Norman
Other Mothers and Community Mothering + Community Mothering in Nepantla: Engaging in Comadrisma to Transcend the Borders between Academia and Familia by Sarah De Los Santos Upton and Naomi Fertman
Mothering and Othermothering in Caribbean Slave Societies by Jill St George
From Ancient Ritual to Status Symbol: Tracing the Evolution of Wet Nursing in Chinese Culture by Emma Mazzei
Nurturing Bonds: The Othermothering Journey of an Aunt by Tracey Estriplet-Adams
Jane Alberdeston teaches creative writing at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA. Her work is published in various anthologies and journals, such as Callaloo, Paterson Literary Review, Sargasso: A Journal of Caribbean Literature, The Acentos Review, Rock and Sling: A Journal of Witness, Literature Review, among others. Her post-apocalyptical novel, Colony 51, is soon to be released by Jade Ibis Press. Currently, she is conducting research for a new speculative novel.
Dorsía Smith Silva is the editor of Latina/Chicana Mothering and the co-editor of several books on mothering and motherhood. She is also the author of In Inheritance of Drowning, Full Professor of English at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras, and the poetry editor of The Hopper. Her work also appears in the Journal of Caribbean Literature, Literary Hub, and The Los Angeles Review, among others.
Dannabang Kuwabong is a professor of Caribbean and African Diaspora Literatures at the University of Puerto Rico. His scholarly works include Rhetoric of Resistance, Labor of Love: The Eco-Poetics of Nationhood in Lasana M. Sekou’s Poetry and Prose, Myth Performance in African Diaspora Drama: Ritual, Theatre, and Dance, Mothers and Daughters; Mothering, Community and Friendship; Confluences III: Essays on the New Canadian Literature; and New Scholarship on Ghanaian Literatures, Languages and Cultures.
