Introduction

Abstract

The book documents the narratives of 13 maternal genealogies that span the early twentieth to early twenty-first centuries. Catholic education and upbringing are a focus of the study—the second generation attended Catholic girls secondary colleges during the 1960s and 70s. The uniqueness of this study is its focus on the conversations of three generations of Australian Anglo-European mothers and daughters. Key themes of education, work and life transitions are introduced as they intersect with generational change and continuity, gender and religion. Extended longitudinal interviews provided a situated approach to locating the everyday practices of these three generations of Australian women. Analysis of interviews worked to construct representations of the mother–daughter relationship that sit inside and outside dominant ideologies and belief systems apparent in their histories particularly that of Catholicism. Recorded participant responses constitute a form of oral storytelling, which illuminate the lived fabric of everyday life and provide a rich portrayal of how these women view themselves and their relationships as mothers and daughters. This chapter introduces the study and the co-authors who grappled with the notion of insider–outsider positioning when working with the interview data.