Research Information System
in: n Care and compassion in capitalism, Çağrı Yalkın,Mustafa F. Özbilgin, Editor, Emerald Group Publishing Ltd, California, pp.211-238, 2024
Drawing on two extreme examples of motherhood under neoliberal market conditions in Turkey, we study the social, political, and affective standing
of motherly care. We show that relying on market tools makes one kind of motherhood (Instamoms) legitimate and visible and lack of reliance on market resources renders the second kind of motherhood invisible (Saturday Mothers). Instamoms’ social, political, and affective performances of motherly care are protected and supported by the market. Saturday Mothers are a group of mothers who are looking for their children, who have disappeared under police custody. Saturday Mothers and their motherly care are socially and politically rejected although they too rely on Instagram to build support. We illustrate that the way motherly care is viewed by the population, with the help of mainstream media, is shaped by their relationship with the neoliberal market.