Maternal Activism

Book excerpt: Demonstrates how individuals can respond to widespread injustice and systemic militarization in society. Maternal Activism tells the stories of women who refused to ignore injustice even though many people urged them to stop their activism by claiming it would harm their children. Molly Rush, Michele Naar-Obed, Cindy Sheehan, and Diane Wilson recognized that the potential well-being of their children relates to the damage done by US militarism and environmental destruction. These women’s stories illustrate feminist ethical theory and contemporary theory from peace studies. By examining their context for addressing injustice and the theoretical supports for their action, this book demonstrates that issues of injustice overlap such that critiques of nuclear weapons lead to critiques of war and militarism, which lead to critiques of environmental destruction. “The unique strength of this book is that in sharing the stories of these four mothers it brings to the forefront what it means to live maternal activism in the many dimensions of women’s lives: activist, partner, mother, friend, etc., and does so with acute and sensitive awareness of the complexities and tensions of doing so.” — Andrea O’Reilly, editor of Feminist Mothering