Bridging Home and Work in the Transition to Motherhood

ABSTRACT This article examines the relationship between discourses of mother-hood and discourses of employment for contemporary middle-class women. Drawing on data from a study of the transition to motherhood conducted in Bristol, UK, it is suggested that there are important continuities as well as con¯icts between the discursive construction of these two spheres. In consequence, a variety of relationships may be established between mothering and employment identities. The concept of `inter-spatiality ' is suggested to conceptualize how the women negotiated the relationship between the two. The ®ndings suggest both that women do not necessarily experience con¯ict between these two sources of identity, and that they may have a degree of agency in negotiating the relationship between these interlocking parts of their lives. KEY WORDS discourse ^ employment ^ inter-spatiality ^ motherhood ^ project of the self ^ self-identit