Postmodern motherhood: a free ethical choice and a personal commitment

Abstract

The essay offers a pedagogical reflection on postmodern motherhood. In an age where freedom becomes lived and protected by subjects, leading to new emancipations, but also to new regressions, maternity is transformed according to new social, juridical and cultural norms. Starting from the Italian case and then considering the Western context, the collective imaginary linked to motherhood is investigated here by tracing an identikit of the ethics of the mother developed between care and support and at the centre of family life in diversified forms that lead to new lines of action and research.