Parenting Culture Studies

by Ellie Lee, Jennie Bristow, Charlotte Faircloth, Jan Macvarish

Overview

Now in its second edition, Parenting Culture Studies seeks to understand how parenting is taken as a particular mode of childrearing that reflects broader social trends. Ten years after the initial volume's groundbreaking publication, the authors once again closely examine how the main aspects of parenting have been established, explored, and critically evaluated. Chapters revisit phenomena such as intensive parenting and politics around parenting, as well as controversial issues including policing pregnant women's bodies and parental determinism. In addition to updates throughout the volume, including those addressing literature that has built from the book’s original publication, the book features a new third part discussing parents dealing with risk assessment, school closures, contradictory care arrangements, and vaccine hesitancy during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783031441561
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan
Publication date:	12/26/2023
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Ellie Lee is Director of the Centre for Parenting Culture Studies and Professor of Family and Parenting Research at University of Kent, UK.

Jennie Bristow is a Reader in Sociology at Canterbury Christ Church University, UK.

Charlotte Faircloth is Associate Professor of Social Science in the UCL Social Research Institute at University College London, UK.

Jan Macvarish is Visiting Research Fellow in the Centre for Parenting Culture Studies at the University of Kent, UK.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction.- Chapter 2: Intensive Parenting and the Expansion of Parenting. - Chapter 3: Experts and Parenting Culture.- Chapter 4: The Politics of Parenting.- Chapter 5: Who Cares for Children? The Problem of Intergenerational Contact.- Chapter 6: Policing Pregnancy: The Pregnant Woman Who Drinks.- Chapter 7: The Problem of Attachment: The Detached Parent.- Chapter 8: Babies Brains and Parenting Policy: The Insensitive Mother.- Chapter 9: Intensive Fatherhood? The (Un)involved Dad.- Chapter 10: The Double Bind of Parenting Culture: Helicopter Parents and Cotton Wool Kids.- Chapter 11: Parenting’ after Covid-19: When the Quantity of ‘Quality time’ Becomes Untenable.- Chapter 12: From Safeguarding to Childism? Covid-19 and the School Closures Debate.- Chapter 13: Pregnancy and Vaccination: The Precautionary Principle and Parenting Culture in Covid Times.- Chapter 14: Conclusion. 

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“The authors of this timely collection are in the forefront of analyses of contemporary parenting. The discourses and practices of parenting are rarely held up for sustained critique. Readers of this book will be challenged to question the politics and rationales of parenting cultures in this provocative and cogently argued book.” (Deborah Lupton, University of Sydney, Australia)

“This terrific collection of essays probes and destroys many of the reigning orthodoxies that have turned 21st century parenting into an activity marked by cultural and individual anxiety and the over-involvement of experts and policymakers. The scholars contributing to this volume together make a profound contribution to the study of parenting culture.” (Janet Golden, Rutgers University, USA)

“This is a much needed book that challenges popular political rhetoric about parents and families. The authors accurately capture the ‘double bind’ that affects parents as they try to meet all the expectations put upon them. Various parenting ideals are skewered and dispatched by the authors - if only more educators and politicians would read this!” (Charlotte Haines Lyon, York St John University, UK)

Editorial Reviews

This book gives an account of western parenting culture in the 21st century and its historical development. … The authors aim to highlight parental determinism as a key issue of modern parenting culture which has provided a catalyst for transforming the everyday mundanities of parenting into issues of concern for the structures and institutions of western society. In these endeavours the authors, undoubtedly, succeed and, in doing so, provide an accessible yet scholarly read.” (Victoria Earley, Sociology, Vol. 50 (3), June, 2016)

“This text would be useful for those new to parenting studies as it provides a clear and accessible overview of the field. The bullet pointed chapter summaries at the end of each chapter and the beginning of each essay makes the book a useful educational resource … . the detailed analysis and stimulating arguments in relation to specific areas of contemporary parenting culture makes the text worthwhile reading for those already knowledgeable of the existing literature.” (Michelle Webster, The Sociological Review, Vol. 63 (1), May, 2015)

From the Publisher