Audio only
Length6h 21m
About this audiobook
From the acclaimed author of Like a Mother comes a reflection on the state of caregiving in America, and an exploration of mothering as a means of social change.
The Covid-19 pandemic shed fresh light on a long-overlooked truth: mothering is among the only essential work humans do. In response to the increasing weight placed on mothers and caregivers—and the lack of a social safety net to support them—writer Angela Garbes found herself pondering a vital question: How, under our current circumstances that leave us lonely, exhausted, and financially strained, might we demand more from American family life?
In Essential Labor, Garbes explores assumptions about care, work, and deservedness, offering a deeply personal and rigorously reported look at what mothering is, and can be. A first-generation Filipino-American, Garbes shares the perspective of her family's complicated relationship to care work, placing mothering in a global context—the invisible economic engine that has been historically demanded of women of color.
Garbes contends that while the labor of raising children is devalued in America, the act of mothering offers the radical potential to create a more equitable society. In Essential Labor, Garbes reframes the physically and mentally draining work of meeting a child's bodily and emotional needs as opportunities to find meaning, to nurture a deeper sense of self, pleasure, and belonging. This is highly skilled labor, work that impacts society at its most foundational level.
Part galvanizing manifesto, part poignant narrative, Essential Labor is a beautifully rendered reflection on care that reminds us of the irrefutable power and beauty of mothering.
Audiobook details
Rating★★★★ 4.0 (3.9K)
Includes Goodreads, StoryGraph, Amazon, LibraryThing
GenrePsychology, Health and Wellness
Length6 hrs 21 mins
Narrated byAngela Garbes
FormatAudiobook
Publish dateMay 10, 2022
LanguageEnglish
More from Angela Garbes
Matters of the HeartJacinta Nampijinpa Price9h 35m4.8 (359)$29 · $0.00
Black AF HistoryMichael Harriot15h 43m4.7 (14.6K)$33 · $0.00
Bad Fat Black GirlSesali Bowen6h 32m4.7 (2.8K)$24 · $0.00
Finding Your VoiceMannette Morgan8h 10m4.8 (187)$20
Invisible StormJason Kander6h 48m4.7 (3.2K)$24 · $0.00
I've Been to the MountaintopMartin Luther King48m4.7 (1.4K)$11 · $0.00
AretéBrian Johnson19h 57m4.7 (2.2K)$35
Ullathin KuralPrem Rawat8h 17m4.8 (165)$18 · $0.00
Vax FactsPaul Thomas MD, Deedee Hoover10h 26m4.7 (577)$25
I Am The StormJanice Dean9h4.6 (1.5K)$8 · $0.00
On Democracies and Death CultsDouglas Murray10h 38m4.6 (6.5K)$29 · $0.00
TerraformPropaganda5h 39m4.7 (594)$24 · $0.00
Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases (Annotated)Ida B. Wells-Barnett2h 44m4.6 (1.3K)$2 · $0.00
Hour of the HeartIrvin D. Yalom, Benjamin Yalom8h 19m4.6 (2.3K)$26 · $0.00
The Thomas Sowell ReaderThomas Sowell14h 51m4.6 (2.3K)$25
So You Want to Talk about RaceIjeoma Oluo7h 41m4.6 (146.2K)$17
Braving the TruthRachel Held Evans11h 31m4.7 (359)$29 · $0.00
Level UpRob Dial7h 42m4.6 (3.3K)$26 · $0.00
As a JewSarah Hurwitz8h 36m4.6 (1.2K)$26 · $0.00
Saint Joan (Annotated)George Bernard Shaw6h 20m4.6 (1.2K)$1.20 · $0.00
Rewrite the Mother CodeDr. Gertrude Lyons10h 55m4.9 (144)$25
Your Body Already KnowsNidhi Pandya Bhanshali9h 7m4.7 (360)$16 · $0.00
The Dangerous Truth about Today’s MarijuanaLaura Stack CSP, MBA9h 57m4.7 (384)$20 · $0.00
Bruno GröningWivvica21m4.9 (56)$10 · $0.00
Vax FactsPaul Thomas MD, Deedee Hoover10h 26m4.7 (577)$25
Hour of the HeartIrvin D. Yalom, Benjamin Yalom8h 19m4.6 (2.3K)$26 · $0.00
These Vital SignsSayed Tabatabai3h 20m4.7 (215)$18 · $0.00
The Yoga Sutras of PatanjaliPatanjali4h 8m4.5 (18.5K)$6 · $0.00
The Lost VoiceGreta Morgan8h 30m4.7 (285)$26 · $0.00
Healthy Kids, Happy KidsElisa Song14h 18m4.6 (760)$33 · $0.00
Dr. Susan Love’s Breast Book, 5th EditionSusan M. Love MD19h 37m4.6 (981)$32
Eat It!Jordan Syatt, Michael Vacanti4h 40m4.6 (1.5K)$20 · $0.00
Sun & SsukgatMichelle Jungmin Bang6h 28m4.7 (231)$24 · $0.00
Choosing To StayMo Haque4h 13m4.9 (35)$16 · $0.00
Consent Laid BareChanel Contos7h 11m4.5 (1.7K)$24 · $0.00
Fit God's WayKim Dolan Leto7h4.6 (514)$17
How to Make Disease DisappearRangan Chatterjee5h 26m4.5 (3.5K)$24 · $0.00
The Complete Herbal (Annotated)Nicholas Culpeper29h 8m4.5 (1.4K)$2 · $0.00
A Plague Upon Our HouseScott W. Atlas MD10h 37m4.5 (3.4K)$20 · $0.00
The Cancer CodeDr. Jason Fung10h 48m4.5 (5.3K)$29 · $0.00
You may also like
Salvationbell hooks5h 59m4.3 (3.1K)$24 · $0.00
The More or Less Definitive Guide to Self-CareAnna Borges4h 23m4.0 (1.6K)$20 · $0.00
Pulling Your Own StringsWayne W. Dyer1h 28m4.3 (2.7K)$16 · $0.00
Fed UpGemma Hartley8h 23m4.0 (6.2K)$26 · $0.00
SurpriseTania Luna, LeeAnn Renninger PhD6h 40m4.0 (404)$17
Start Here Start NowLiz Kleinrock4h 20m4.6 (1K)$20
Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve SeenInger Burnett-Zeigler7h 46m4.4 (516)$26 · $0.00
Character BuildingBooker T. Washington4h 46m4.6 (286)$2 · $0.00
Women Don't Owe You PrettyFlorence Given3h 30m3.8 (94.7K)$15
Meet the FrugalwoodsElizabeth Willard Thames5h 41m3.8 (17.1K)$24 · $0.00
Social Justice ParentingTraci Baxley6h 56m4.3 (1K)$24 · $0.00
Things I Should Have Told My DaughterPearl Cleage11h 10m4.1 (1.3K)$20 · $0.00
Time MagicMelissa Ambrosini, Nick Broadhurst8h 2m4.0 (420)$26 · $0.00
Growing SeasonsKristin Johns3h 17m4.6 (361)$18 · $0.00
Socrates CaféChristopher Phillips PhD7h 24m3.9 (5.9K)$17 · $0.00
Anywhere But HomeAnu Vaidyanathan6h 21m4.3 (222)$8
Redefining RichShannon Hayes6h 10m4.3 (241)$17 · $0.00
Notes From a Feminist KilljoyErin Wunker6h 43m3.9 (567)$24 · $0.00
Parenting at the IntersectionsJaya Ramesh, Priya Saaral13h 59m4.7 (67)$19 · $0.00
What's Your Zip Code Story?CJ Gross6h 15m4.1 (67)$17 · $0.00