Sara Eldén
Associate Professor | Director of Research Studies | Senior Lecturer
Intensive grandparenting : Narratives of changing generational practices and relations.
Author
Summary, in Swedish
Taking our point of departure in a study on intergenerational care in Sweden – involving grandparents, adult children and grandchildren (65 interviewees, using creative methods; drawings, diaries) – our analysis suggests the concept intensive grandparenting as an analytical lens for understanding contemporary grandparental involvement in care for grandchildren. Like intensive parenting/mothering (Hays 1996; Lareau 2003; Faircloth 2014), grandparenting today can be characterized as child-centred, emotionally absorbing, financially expensive and labour intensive (Hays 1996), and also as an ambivalent (Luescher & Pillemer 1998) and continuously gendered activity. In addition, it is largely done in the shadows of – and in complex relation to – parenting. Our analysis shows the need to view parenting and grandparenting practices as embedded in wider social contexts, both in relation to the changing welfare state and demands of work-family life, and in relation to changing ideals of care for children and relations between generations.
Department/s
- Department of Gender Studies
- Department of Sociology
- Sociology
Publishing year
2023-05-25
Language
English
Document type
Conference - other
Topic
- Sociology (excluding Social Work, Social Psychology and Social Anthropology)
- Gender Studies
Conference name
The 6th Nordic Challenges Conference.
Conference date
2023-05-24 - 2023-05-26
Conference place
Oslo
Status
Published