Call for papers

Download this Call for Papers (PDF).

Parenting and Personhood: Cross-cultural perspectives on family-life, expertise, and risk management

Thursday 23 and Friday 24 June 2016

Venues: The Cathedral Conference Centre, Canterbury (Thursday) and the University of Kent, Canterbury (Friday)

As a result of ongoing global economic, social and cultural changes, new parenting norms, ideologies and practices are emerging around the world. This conference aims to bring together researchers from various disciplines who are interested in the interplay between parenting cultures, personhood, expertise and risk management. Our aim is to provide a venue for genuinely interdisciplinary dialogue for those with common research interests.

How is being a ‘good parent’ differently composed and how can we study these variations? What kinds of personhood are these discourses and practices aimed at fostering? How are general ideas of living in a risk society or a risk culture relevant for different parenting cultures?

We invite paper proposals addressing at least one of the following topics:

  1. Parenting cultures in the family
  2. Interfaces of parenting cultures and civil society
  3. Parenting cultures and expertise

We welcome both theoretical and empirical ventures into these questions, and papers may include interdisciplinary approaches.

Further information about these themes.

Submitting proposals

Paper proposals (maximum 300 words) and proposals for themed panels of three papers, can be submitted until Monday 14 December 2015. Please include a short biography with the abstract.

For submitting abstract or other enquiries, please email Ellie Lee (E.J.Lee@kent.ac.uk) or Hilde Danielsen (Hilde.Danielsen@uni.no).

Other dates
Notification of paper acceptance: Monday 25 January 2016
Publication of programme: Monday 23 February 2016
Deadline for registration: 30 April 2016

Conference fee

  • With dinner: £135 (£95 concessions)
  • Without dinner: £100 (£60 concessions)

Dinner

The dinner will be a set menu with courses from The Cathedral Lodge Fine Dining Menu. There will be a pay bar for drinks.

  • Starter: Smoked tomato soup served with crème fraiche
  • Main: Roasted leg of lamb with a rosemary jus or
    Pancake wellington (vegetarian) with peppercorn beurre blanc
    both served with seasonal vegetables and potatoes
  • Dessert: Kentish apple and blackberry pie with vanilla sauce

When you register, you will be asked to indicate whether you want a vegetarian main course, or if you have special dietary requirements.

Confirmed keynote speakers

  • Professor Annette Lareau (Sociology, University of Pennsylvania)
  • Professor Thomas Hylland Eriksen (Social Anthropology, University of Oslo)
  • Professor Frank Furedi (Sociology, University of Kent).

The conference is organised by Centre for Parenting Culture Studies and the project ‘Parenting Cultures and Risk Management in Plural Norway’ (ParCul), Uni Research Rokkansenteret (Norway). At the conference, findings from the ParCul project will be presented by the research team.

More information about ParCul

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