Working Mothers and the Work of Culture in a Papua New Guinea Society

Abstract

Issues of mothering and work, though often spoken about in practical terms, express deeper concerns about the transmission and acquisition of cultural values and the part mothering plays in the creation of the self in society. Based on a case study of the Murik of Papua New Guinea and recent insights into intersubjectivity and recognition of the motherchild relationship, I argue that Murik mothers deploy their capacity for subject‐subject interaction in ways that teach children crucial cultural schemas related to work, food, and recognition. In negotiating intersubjectivity, mother and child establish the broad outlines of a competent self in a cultural world.