Resisting categorisation: an ordinary mother

In this paper we use membership category analysis to examine the way an interviewee utilises category work in order to resist the possible accusation of being a bad mother and instead posit her mothering as ordinary. Through our analysis we explore the interactional work of ascribing and resisting categorisation organised through claims and counter-claims making procedures routinely grounded in descriptions and accounts, and embedded in shifts between individual and categorial actions. Copyright 2007 Helena Austin and Richard Fitzgerald. No part of this article may be reproduced by any means without the written consent of the publisher.