Moms for Liberty is part of a long history of rightwing mothers’ activism in the US | Michael Feola

While mothers' movements are often associated with projects of social welfare, a counter-tradition has pursued staunchly conservative aims

The activist group Moms for Liberty has become the new face of the culture wars around education. The group was founded in 2021, during the Covid pandemic, and rose to prominence through outspoken opposition to school mask mandates. The group has now spread across the United States, its membership fueled by the Republican-led moral panic over a woke ideology" that is supposedly sweeping public schools and indoctrinating" children. At present, the group counts 285 chapters in 45 states.

As the group has grown, so too have its political ambitions. Moms for Liberty places particular emphasis on capturing local school boards in order to secure greater control over school policy. More broadly, the group endorses legislation that would limit the topics that can be discussed in the classroom (for instance, Florida's so-called Don't Say Gay" legislation), and they promote policies that allow parents to target books for removal from school libraries and classrooms.

Michael Feola is a professor of government at Lafayette College, a contributor to publications including Slate and The Washington Post, and the author of a forthcoming book on the far right, Rage of Replacement