This book presents an original contribution to the study of care and care work by addressing pressing issues in the field from a Latin American and intersectional perspective. The expansion of professional care and its impacts on public policies related to care are global phenomena, but so far the international literature on the subject has focused mainly on the Global North. This volume aims to enrich this literature by presenting results of research projects conducted in five Latin American countries - Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Uruguay -, and comparing them with researches conducted in other countries, such as France, Japan and the USA. Latin America is a social space where professional care has expanded dramatically over the past twenty years. However, unlike Japan, USA and European countries, such expansion took place in a context of heterogeneous and poorly structured markets, in societies which stand out for its reliance on domestic workers to provide care work in the household as paid workers, in both formal and informal arrangements. CareandCareWorkers: A Latin American Perspective will be a useful tool for sociologists, anthropologists, social workers, gerontologists and other social scientists dedicated to the study of the growing demand for care services worldwide, as well as to decision makers dealing with public policies related to care services. "Society cannot function without the unpaid (and poorly and informally paid) work of caregivers. Having the data - and this book presents this data - allows public policy to be based on the realities rather than on the prejudices, habits, or structural injustices of a previous time about gender roles, class, ethnicity, race, migrant status. (...) This volume not only presents the data, then, but also shows how some countries have begun to innovate to provide solutions to the problem that some people are overburdened by care while others do little of it. (...) Scholars and activists in Latin American countries lead the way in showing both how resistance remains and how to innovate. So the rest of the world has much to learn from this volume." - Excerpt from the Foreword by Professor Joan C. Tronto

Rather than focusing upon advanced countries, where civil society growth is seen as a post-market development, this volume explores developing countries, with case studies examining grassroots developments and experiences. The desirability, efficiency and effectiveness of market institutions as viewed by civil society organizations is addressed in this important collection, which moves the debate from acceptance or criticism of global markets to focus upon the case of rural development where local social relations and economic exchange remain more powerful and relevant than the operation of markets .

"Intense globalization, rapidly changing workplaces and family patterns have renewed the international interest in quality of life. This book examines different institutional arrangements, work-place conditions and gendered work and care that affect the conditions for achieving quality of work and life in European countries"--

This edited volume offers a contemporary rethinking of the relationship between love and care in the context of neoliberal practices of professionalization and work. Each of the book's three sections interrogates a particular site of care, where the affective, political, legal, and economic dimensions of care intersect in challenging ways. These sites are located within a variety of institutionally managed contexts such as the contemporary university, the theatre hall, the prison complex, the family home, the urban landscape, and the care industry. The geographical spread of the case studies stretches across India, Vietnam, Sweden, Brazil, South Africa, the UK and the US and provides broad coverage that crosses the divide between the Global North and the Global South. To address this transnational interdisciplinary field of study, the collection utilises insights from across the humanities and social sciences and includes contributions from literature, sociology, cultural and media studies, philosophy, feminist theory, theatre, art history, and education. These inquiries build on a variety of conceptual tools and research methods, from data analysis to psychoanalytic reading. Love and the Politics of Care delivers an attentive and widely relevant examination of the politics of care and makes a compelling case for an urgent reconsideration of the methods that currently structure and regulate it.

From New York Times bestselling author Jeff Abbott's, an uneasy alliance forms as two widows delve into their husbands' deadly and dangerous secrets...Henry North is a down-on-his-luck cybersecurity expert from New Orleans. Adam Zhang is the cofounder of one of Austin's most successful venture capitalist firms. These two men didn't know each other. They had never met. Yet they died together, violently, in a place neither had any business being. When Henry doesn't return from a business trip, his wife, Kirsten, panics - and then gets an anonymous phone call: 'Your husband is dead in Austin.' Flora knew Adam was keeping secrets from her. She suspected an affair, but had decided she could forgive him for his weakness - until her husband ended up dead. And with no explanation for her husband's murder, the police begin to suspect her. Together, these two widows will face a powerful foe determined to write a false narrative about the murders. In doing so, neither Flora nor Kirsten will remain the women the world thought they were. An exceptional thriller from the million copy bestseller, showing the ends people will go to protect their own, perfect for fans of Linwood Barclay, Harlan Coben and Lisa Gardner.

Little research has explored the everyday, simple and long-term experience of maternal holding, particularly after the first year of a child's life. The research that has been undertaken commonly examines holding through the lens of attachment with a focus on the impact of holding upon the child. Employing an arts-based collaborative inquiry approach, participants' stories of holding, as well as the author's own, convey the significant maternal experiences of holding their children over individual arts therapeutic sessions. Optimal moments of holding included strange, powerful and meaningful experiences of expansion into self-in-relationship. Attention is drawn to the ways in which holding can alert us to the current state of mother/child relationships; how we understand, story and structure those relationships; and the ways in which we can attend to holding in order to develop deeply satisfying experiences of a mother/child 'us'. An Arts Therapeutic Approach to Maternal Holding aims to draw attention to the intersubjective qualities of the mother/child relationship, explore why holding matters, and offer suggestions for therapeutic practice. This book is essential reading for therapeutic practitioners and those in allied health fields who work with mothers and children.

What is it to care for another human being? How do we show compassion for each other? Is 'social care' an activity only for paid professionals? This book sets out on a radical re-examination of the nature of social care, the way it is practised, and its purpose. Rather than being confined to a qualified cohort of designated carers, social care is an activity for all. It is the gateway to the humanization of both care-giver and care-receiver. Yet the process of humanization, in order to be effective, needs to encompass both the personal and political worlds. The resultant integral social care can be re-imagined as compassionate activism. The scope of the book ranges from the practical to the theoretical. It assesses the specific skills needed in providing social care; it examines social care theory and practice; and it extends its investigation as far as the dysfunctions in the current political and economic system. The book proposes a 'dialogic practice' as an effective method of achieving personal and social transformation, one which is available to professional practitioners and others alike. The value and process of dialogue affirms that our humanity is primarily characterized by care and compassion rather than individual self-interest.

This collection explores the relationships between the emotional and material, engaging with and developing the debates surrounding the emotional and material labour involved in producing and reproducing domestic and intimate spaces. The contributions examine the geographies and spaces of consumption in international and local-global spheres.

This edited book empirically discusses stratification in contemporary Japanese society. It is unique for its examination of social inequality in relation to declining fertility and an aging population. Japan is the most aged society in the world: according to the Statistics Bureau of Japan, people who are aged 65 and above comprised 29.1% of the country's total population in 2021. Meanwhile, the fertility rate has continuously declined since the mid-1970s. Japan experienced a dramatic change in its demographic structure in a short period of time. Such fast change could be a major factor that generated social stratification. In her industrialization, Japan was thought to share a pattern of social stratification similar to that of developed European and North American countries but with a low degree of socio-economic inequality and a high degree of homogeneity. There is no clear support for this description of Japan, although the country does share a pattern and degree of social stratification similar to that observed in Europe and North America. The social stratification theory has been developed in close relationship to the labor market; however, it is necessary to further examine the social stratification of very aged societies in which a substantial number of the population-namely, retired persons-no longer have any ties to the labor market. In this book, the contributors explore the pattern of social stratification at three life stages: young, middle-aged, and elderly. Included are discussions of various aspects of stratification such as education, work, wealth, marriage, family, gender, generation, and social attitudes.

Drawing on research from the Timescapes Study, this volume discusses the life chances and experiences of children and young people, parents and older generations. A unique qualitative longitudinal study forms the basis for the chapter contributions, delivering policy-relevant findings to address individual and family lives over time.

In this "entertaining mix of social science, memoir, and humor, as if a Daniel Goleman book were filtered through the lens of Will Ferrell" (The New York Times Book Review) a middle-aged man embarks on an entertaining and relatable quest to reprioritize his ties with his buddies and forge new friendships, all while balancing work, marriage, and kids. At the age of forty, having settled into his busy career and active family life, Billy Baker discovers that he's lost something crucial along the way: his friends. Other priorities always seemed to come first, until all his close friendships became distant memories. When he takes an assignment to write an article about the modern loneliness epidemic, he realizes just how common it is to be a middle-aged loner: almost fifty million Americans over the age of forty-five, especially men, suffer from chronic loneliness, which the surgeon general has declared one of the nation's "greatest pathologies," worse than smoking, obesity, or heart disease in increasing a person's risk for premature death. Determined to defy these odds, Baker vows to salvage his lost friendships and blaze a path for men (and women) everywhere to improve their relationships old and new. From leading a buried treasure hunt with his old college crew to organizing an impromptu "ditch day" for dozens of his former high school classmates to essentially starting a frat house for middle-aged guys in his neighborhood, Baker experiments with ways to keep in touch with his friends no matter how hectic their lives are--with surprising and deeply satisfying results. Along the way, he talks to experts in sociology and psychology to investigate how such naturally social creatures as humans could become so profoundly isolated today. And he turns to real-life experts in lasting friendship, bravely joining a cruise packed entirely with crowds of female BFFs and learning the secrets of male bonding from a group of older dudes who faithfully meet up on the same night every week. "A refreshing and entertaining personal perspective on why men need male friends" (Kirkus Reviews, starred review), We Need to Hang Out is a celebration of companionship that is bursting with humor, candor, and charm.

Across the globe, family policy is becoming ever more important in tackling key issues such as poverty, child welfare and the state of the economy in general. The Handbook of Family Policy examines how state and workplace policies support parents and their children in developing, earning and caring. With original contributions from 45 leading scholars, this Handbook provides readers with up-to-date knowledge on family policies and family policy research, taking stock of current literature as well as providing analyses of present-day policies, and where they should head in the future. The Handbook is divided into five main sections: history, concepts, theory and methods of family policy research; family policies; family policy models; outcomes of family policies; and future challenges for family policy making and research. Beneficial for both scholars already familiar with the field as well as newcomers, this Handbook provides important insights into the architecture and mechanisms of different family policy models. Family policy makers would also greatly benefit from the detailed advice on how family policies may adapt and progress in the future. Contributors include: S.-h. Baek, U. Bjoernberg, M. Blofield, J. Bradshaw, C. Collins, M. Daly, L. den Dulk, L. Dominelli, D. Engster, G.B. Eydal, R. Frankenberger, J.M. Franzoni, A.H. Gauthier, J. Glass, J.C. Gornick, T.J. Guerrero, H. Hiilamo, T. Knijn, J.C. Koops, S.S.-y. Lee, H. Lohmann, C. Martin, M. Meyers, J. Milllar, P. Moss, M. Naldini, N. Neetha, E. Nell, I. Ostner, R. Palriwala, L. Patel, B. Peper, B. Pfau-Effinger, C. Rat, T. Rostgaard, H. Stensoeta, D. Szikra, O. Thevenon, D.R. Woods, M.A. Yerkes, J. Young Kang, H. Zagel

This multidisciplinary volume offers an essential, comprehensive study of perspectives on the scope and application of the best interests of the child and focuses mainly on its application in relation to child custody. With expert contributions from psychological, sociological and legal perspectives, it offers scientific analysis and debate on whether it should be the primary consideration in deciding child custody cases in cases of divorce or separation or whether it should be one of several primary considerations. It explores complex dilemmas inherent in shared parenting and whether the advantages it offers children are sufficient when compared to attributing custody to one parent and limiting visitation rights of the other. Offering a comprehensive analysis of this complex topic, chapters provide detailed insight into the current state of research in this area, as well as expert guidelines aimed at resolving the controversies when parents agree or disagree over their children's living arrangements. Cutting-edge topics explored include: transnational shared parenting; alternative dispute resolution; breastfeeding parents; religious disputes between parents and the psychological, social and economic factors that affect shared parenting. The Routledge International Handbook of Shared Parenting and Best Interest of the Child will be essential reading for scholars and graduate students in law, psychology, sociology and economics interested in shared parenting and family law.

This popular text, now in a third edition, offers readers a vivid perspective on the cultural and social complexities of food practices and the current food system. Synthesizing insights from the multidisciplinary field of food studies, this book engages readers' curiosity by highlighting the seeming paradoxes of food: how food is both individual and social, reveals both distinction and conformity, and, in the contemporary era, seems to come from everywhere but nowhere in particular. Each chapter begins with an intriguing case study and ends with suggested resources and activities. Chapter topics include identity, restaurants and food media, health, marketing, industrialization, global food, surplus and scarcity, and social change. Updates and enhancements in this edition reflect new scholarly insights into how food is involved in social media, social movements, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Throughout, the book blends concepts and empirical accounts to address the central issues of culture, structure, and social inequality. Written in a lively, accessible style, this book provides students with an unrivalled and multifaceted introduction to this fascinating aspect of social life.

This book is about families who combine home life and income-producing work under the same roof. Based on 899 homeworking households in nine states, the analysis presents detailed information about individual worker and household characteristics; work characteristics for both business owners and wage workers; family functioning types; management behavior; and adjustment strategies used in family life, the community context, and the home-based employment experience over an extended period of time. This is the first publication of a serious longitudinal study of the phenomenon of working from home with historical considerations of how and why so many people are choosing this option. It points to the significantly positive impact at-home workers are having on their families, their neighborhoods, and their communities.

*A Blackwell's Book of the Year* *A Waterstones Best Popular Science Book of 2022* *A Telegraph Best Book for Summer 2022* *As heard on BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour* 'Excellent ... one of those rare pop-science books that make you look at the whole world differently' The Daily Telegraph ***** 'Riveting' Mail on Sunday ***** 'Captivating' Guardian, Book of the Day 'Compelling' Observer Before the nineteenth century, the term normal was rarely ever associated with human behaviour. Normal was a term used in maths: people weren't normal - triangles were. But from the 1830s, this branch of science really took off across Europe and North America, with a proliferation of IQ tests, sex studies, a census of hallucinations - even a UK beauty map (which concluded the women in Aberdeen were "the most repellent"). This book tells the surprising history how the very notion of the normal came about, how it shaped us all, often while entrenching oppressive values. Sarah Chaney looks at why we're still asking the internet: Do I have a normal body? Is my sex life normal? Are my kids normal? And along the way, she challenges why we ever thought it might be a desirable thing to be.

The widening gap between the rich and the poor is turning the American dream into an impossibility for many, particularly children and families. And as the children of low-income families grow to adulthood, they have less access to opportunities and resources than their higher-income peers--and increasing odds of repeating the experiences of their parents. Families in an Era of Increasing Inequality probes the complex relations between social inequality and child development and examines possibilities for disrupting these ongoing patterns. Experts across the social sciences track trends in marriage, divorce, employment, and family structure across socioeconomic strata in the U.S. and other developed countries. These family data give readers a deeper understanding of how social class shapes children's paths to adulthood and how those paths continue to diverge over time and into future generations. In addition, contributors critique current policies and programs that have been created to reduce disparities and offer suggestions for more effective alternatives. Among the topics covered: Inequality begins at home: the role of parenting in the diverging destinies of rich and poor children. Inequality begins outside the home: putting parental educational investments into context. How class and family structure impact the transition to adulthood. Dealing with the consequences of changes in family composition. Dynamic models of poverty-related adversity and child outcomes. The diverging destinies of children and what it means for children's lives. As new initiatives are sought to improve the lives of families and children in the short and long term, Families in an Era of Increasing Inequality is a key resource for researchers and practitioners in family studies, social work, health, education, sociology, demography, and psychology.

With a focus on nine different national contexts, this book explores contemporary family diversity. With attention to the different welfare states and cultures of care in each setting, it problematises the pre-eminence of research and policy centred on heteronormative families, showing the extent to which family diversity exists cross-nationally in relation to different gendered and "family-friendly" policies. Considering variations in family forms, including differences in the number and marital status of parents, their gender, sexual orientation and biological relationship to the children (adoption), multi-cultural families, and families created by technological assistance or surrogacy, it presents demographic information, alongside quantitative and qualitative research, across a number of advanced countries. A contribution to our understanding of the diversity of family forms, how diversity is lived in families, and what family diversity means in various international policy contexts The Changing Faces of Families will appeal to scholars with interests in the sociology of the family.

The great issues and conflicts of the early seventeenth century were played out not only on the stages of the Court and Parliament, and, latterly, on the battlefield, but within the confines of the family. Originally published in 1984, in this pioneering study of the Verney family, based on more than 10,000 family letters and papers, Professor Miriam Slater shows how a family of country gentry lived and behaved in a time of political and social crisis. Most of their energies were directed within the family, their concerns with marriage and children, with relationships between members of the Verney clan, with managing their estates and property. They emerge as real people with passions and hatreds, made to live their lives by correspondence when the head of the family was forced to live abroad as an exile and casualty of the political tumults. But their misfortunes have created a unique archive which allows the author to delve deep into the very heart of their personal lives, and to create an extraordinary collective portrait of a family in times of troubles. Professor Slater describes and analyses the way in which Verney family members actually treated each other, and gives an account of their ideas - on marriage, from both the male and female points of view; on the roles of children and parents; on the relationships among adult siblings; on the place of servants within the family. She offers a detailed and systematic examination of family psychological dynamics, and the values, attitudes and goals which affected individual behaviour. She also moves beyond individual idiosyncrasies by linking the nature of personal interaction within the family to the wider social structures of the society, including laws of inheritance, patriarchal control, the different treatment of men and women, and financial arrangements and family strategies.

Originally published in 1987, this book presented for the first time a unified treatment of English kinship of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This system, far from being a patchwork of historical accidents, has a remarkably logical overall structure, permeating both law and custom. To understand it one must study a wide variety of sources ranging from Parliamentary debates through accounts of contemporary events, cases and incidents to fiction of the day. The work is pertinent to current studies in a number of fields: in history it represents a systematic overview, highlighting new sources of material, while for lawyers it gives a historical context and explanation of 'family law', particularly topical for impending English legislation in this area at the time. It collects two centuries of sociological data, and presents social anthropologists with the English system for comparison with systems conventionally studied in the field and with kinship theory. Finally, it provides philosophers with a new arena in which to discuss the nature of explanations of human activities, besides raising fresh questions.

Originally published in 1986, reissued here with a new preface, this study of the origins and early development of family conciliation services in Britain outlines their philosophy, methods of work and reported results, illustrated with case examples. The examples demonstrate that disputes between separating and divorcing couples involve complex personal and family problems as well as legal ones, and that the practice of conciliation needed to be set in the context of current changes in family law and court procedures. At the time many solicitors and courts were adopting a settlement-seeking approach in matrimonial cases rather than a sharply adversarial one, and the complementary roles of solicitors and conciliators gave rise to dilemmas in practice, as well as offering potential advantages. This book draws a parallel between the work of ACAS in industrial disputes and the similar approach of family conciliation services, but points out that there are also major differences. It also shows how the experience of conciliation practice gained in other countries throws some useful light on the questions being raised in Britain. Research findings from Australia, Canada and the United States are used in discussing the future of conciliation in the short and longer term, and in looking at the possible development of alternative methods of resolving disputes.

Few Americans escape the experience of divorce, either first-hand or through the dissolutions of marriages of friends or relatives. According to the author, mediation offers a good alternative to the strictly adversarial divorce process that was so prevalent before such programs began to emerge. Originally published in 1991, this book was unique at the time in that it not only explores the role of communication in divorce mediation, but it also presents original research to support its claims. A series of empirical studies, it points readers to a more focused set of recommendations about communication than the typical practitioner's "How-to" books. A simulation exercise is also included, so that readers can apply the concepts described and see the results. The main goal of this text is to provide mediators with a language for understanding their own and their disputants' communication patterns, strategies, and tactics - a shortcoming of most other books on this topic when first published.