CFP: Women, Work-Life Balance and Quality of Life
Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) Annual International Conference 2007 'Sustainability and Quality of Life', 28th to 31st August 07, London, UK.
Paper session sponsored by the Women and Geography Study Group
SESSION CONVENORS: Susan Buckingham, Elodie Marandet, Fiona Smith, Emma Wainwright; Brunel University
Abstract:
A number of UK Government policies have had significant implications for women's management of productive and reproductive roles. For example, through emphasising waged work as both a civic duty and a necessity for various entitlements, groups of unemployed women are being offered (re)training to make them 'work-ready', 'encouraging' them to take financial responsibility for themselves and their families. Moreover, Government rhetoric extolling the virtues of flexible working suggests that women's place is in the office as much as the home. While such programmes and rhetoric can undoubtedly benefit women, they also increase pressures on women to combine paid work with reproductive work in the household, raising significant questions about the impact on women's quality of life.
This session will explore the relationships between these trends and the implications they have for women's geographies through a range of theoretical positions and empirical studies. We are particularly interested in exploring how women in training, low-paid work or professional careers balance working and home lives and the impact of this on their quality of life. We also welcome papers exploring how issues of quality of life, work-life balance and financial considerations impact on women's decision to (re)enter the labour market or (re)train.
Please send abstracts of no more than 200 words to [log in to unmask], [log in to unmask], [log in to unmask], or [log in to unmask] by 31st January 07.
<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
Elodie Marandet
Dept Geography & Earth Sciences
Brunel University
Uxbridge, UB8 3PH (UK)
Tel +44 (0) 1895 266 097
Fax +44 (0) 1895 269 736
http://www.brunel.ac.uk/depts/geo/ <http://www.brunel.ac.uk/depts/geo/>
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