ABSTRACT
This chapter is about the constitution of new parents as pedagogical subjects in consumer culture, a process that mirrors an analogous development in the medicalhealth field. It is identifiable through the diverse instruction services and resources now directed at people going through this transitional phase of life, and which include a growing number of pregnancy and early parenting websites, magazines, advisory services, parenting manuals, and advice books, as well as products with accompanying information. I argue that it is difficult to demarcate medical-health instructions from those deriving from commercial culture, as non-commercial and commercial pedagogic practices are apparently merging in diverse ways. Developing an understanding of the connections between commercial and noncommercial players and practices in this field is therefore salient. This chapter examines how instructional resources targeted at new parents are organized, and asks why we find such proximity in the practices of non-commercial and commercial players in this field.
