MATERNALISM AND POLITICAL MOBILIZATION - HOW CALIFORNIA POSTWAR CHILD-CARE CAMPAIGN WAS WON

Unlike other states California retained a large proportion of the chil d care centers that had been established during World War II. In 1946, the California stale government allocated state funds for child care in response to a vigorous child care campaign. The campaign, which was , in large part, a working mothers movement, was a ''transformed mater nalist'' movement. I, used maternalist rhetoric to defend stare-subsid ized child care that was criticized by more traditional maternalists. Using resource mobilization theory, I explain the relatively high degr ee of political, mobilization on the child care issue in California in terms of the greater availability of co-optable social resources (i.e ., potential supporters, campaign leaders, and communication networks) , which California's relatively large wartime childcare program provid ed and the existence of movement entrepreneurs willing to mobilize the se latent resources. Child care advocates were successful because they operated within a relatively favorable political opportunity structur e since they did not have to contend with a strained stale treasury or a mobilized countermovement and were able to garner the support of a wide variety of women's and social organizations and an influential so cial reformer.