Race and neoliberal citizenship in the construction of good (attachment) parents: Parenting Culture Studies and beyond

In this article, we offer one example of what attending to race can bring to sociological analyses of parenting. We draw on literature from two fields, Parenting Culture Studies and Black Feminist scholarship, to bring their insights to bear on a project that examines black mothers’ engagements with attachment parenting. In addressing an analytical lacuna in the work on Parenting Culture Studies, we argue that efforts to both embody and produce good citizens are gendered, classed and raced . This is revealed by examining notions of good parenting from the perspective of black parents. As such, in this article, we show the value of applying an intersectional framework to analyses of contemporary parenting and neoliberal subjectification, in elucidating the mechanisms by which ideals of both parenting and neoliberal citizenship are perpetuated.