‘I am the black duck’ affective aspects of working-class mothers’ involvement in parental communities

Abstract

The aim of this study is to analyse working-class mothers’ narratives of social interactions among parents at their children’s schools. A special focus is paid to the emotions that arise in such interactions and their role in the reproduction of class. A narrative analysis of six stories of white, working-class mothers of compulsory school aged children was carried out. The study is set in Iceland, which gives a unique opportunity for classed and gendered analysis of parental communities as the country is at the forefront of gender equality in the world. Additionally, the compulsory school system is still relatively unsegregated. Findings show that the parental communities reproduce the symbolic violence endured by the working-class mothers within the field of education. Accounts of resistance and anger are present in some of the accounts but affective responses such as inferiority and shame are all-encompassing and contribute to the reproduction of class.