Contribution to Book
Happy housewives and angry feminists: the myths of modern motherhood
On happiness: new ideas for the twenty-first century
(2015)
Abstract
What is happiness, and how does the pursuit of happiness shape our lives? Happiness appears to be a simple emotion, individual and pleasurable, yet the problems associated with happiness in politics, economics and philosophy suggest that it is perhaps more complex and paradoxical than we first thought.
This eclectic collection of essays interrogates the ‘common sense’ understanding of happiness in the West and examines the strategies devised to obtain it. Without disposing of the concept altogether, On Happiness rediscovers the latent aspects of this pervasive (and elusive) phenomenon. Ultimately, it concludes that our current notions of happiness may in fact be the very cause of our discontent. On Happiness offers readers a spectrum of critical reflections and ‘rethinks’ of this ubiquitous cultural obsession. [Book]
Disciplines
Publication Date
2015
Editor
Camilla Nelson, Deborah Pike and Georgina Ledvinka
Publisher
The University of Western Australia
ISBN
9781742586076
Citation Information
Nelson, C. (2015). Happy housewives and angry feminists: the myths of modern motherhood. In C. Nelson, D. Pike and G. Ledvinka (eds), On happiness: new ideas for the twenty-first century. The University of Western Australia: Crawley, WA, p.83-95