Dear Colleague,
The results of the SEMINAR SERIES:' Parenting, Motherhood and Paid Work:
Rationalities and Ambivalences' funded by the Economic and Social Research
Council (ESRC) in the UK during 1998 -1999 are now available at the
following web-site:
<http://www.brad.ac.uk/acad/socsci/re/parenting/seminars.htm>
The introduction to the web site follows for information
ESRC SEMINAR SERIES: Parenting, Motherhood and Paid Work: Rationalities and
ambivalences
An ESRC seminar series convened by
* Simon Duncan
Applied Social Sciences
University of Bradford
* Rosalind Edwards
Social Science Research Centre
South Bank University
Why did we have the seminar series?
The links, and conflicts, between parenting, motherhood and paid work
underlie important policy and theoretical debates - but current research has
often been fragmented and contradictory. The purpose of the seminar series
was to go beyond the oversimplified, and sometimes polarised, debate . This
oversimplification is not just because of the 'headlining' inherent in media
use of academic research, but also because of limitations in the research
base. Positions have tended to argue for either 'choice' or 'constraint'
without recognising that both can be simultaneously true. Comparative
assessment of these positions, where 'choices' are different in other
countries, or in different local social settings, has been limited. At the
same time a number of disciplinary developments in understanding how people
actually do make decisions and negotiate choice and constraint (in
economics, psychology, social policy, sociology and socio-legal studies)
have remained isolated from one another - even though they are often
complimentary. User groups have thereby been positioned in a research
framework which has difficulty in recognising social complexity and change.
The seminar was designed, therefore, to forge interdisciplinary academic
links, and engage user groups from government and NGOs, in order to move
beyond these limitations. It's aim was thus to be able to consider emerging
research questions and policy issues in a more productive manner than
currently.
List of Seminars and Papers
* Seminar 1 - 10/11 September 1998: 'Choices, Constraints and Cultures'
* Seminar 2 - 8 January 1999: 'Parents, Children and Workers: duties, needs
and desires'
* Seminar 3 - 16 April 1999: 'Parents, Children and Workers: rationalities,
contexts and decisions'
* Seminar 4 - 16/17 September 1999: 'Parenting, Motherhood and Paid Work:
rationality and ambivalence'
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Simon Duncan
Professor in Comparative Social Policy
Dept of Applied Social Sciences
University of Bradford
Bradford BD7 1DP, UK
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Tel: 01274 23 5233 Fax: 01274 23 5690
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