Nest Bookshelf: Essental Labor

Essential Labor: Mothering as social change

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Angela Garbes

Part memoir, part meditation on motherhood, Angela Garbes' book "Essential Labor" arose during the COVID-19 pandemic, bringing to light the essential and often unseen work of caregiving. Garbes describes the labor of raising children as "the most essential work humans do." Given that truth, why is caregiving so overlooked and undervalued? "Essential Labor" delves into the history and systems that gave rise to our current attitudes towards motherhood and caregiving. One of the things I enjoyed most was Garbes definition of "motherhood." She does not limit her understanding of motherhood solely to people who give birth to children. In "Essential Labor," Garbes describes motherhood as the act of raising children, and this includes people of all genders, parents, extended family, nonparents and everyone involved in the life of a child.