Project description DEENESFRITPL A judicial look at lone motherhood Single parent families – the vast majority headed by women – are becoming increasingly common in the European Union. They also face greater risks of poverty. As such, single parents need resources, employment and social support. The EU-funded STRESS-Mums project focuses on the judicial transition from double parenthood to lone motherhood and what this means for related issues such as child custody. Undertaking a method of sociological research in institutional ethnography, project researchers will collect interviews in Belgium, Italy and Spain to review gender citizenship related strategies and problems for deeper insight into single-parenting issues. Show the project objective Hide the project objective Objective Lone motherhood is considered as an increasing social problem, not only because its increase but also since it leads to diverse and separated women having only a partial citizenship. There is little knowledge on the social relations and practices that contribute – or do not contribute – to protecting and socially including lone mothers, beginning from the crucial transition to lone parenthood: the judicial evaluation. Focusing on the transition from double parenthood to lone motherhood and, in particular, on the period of judicial evaluation for child custody and judicial decisions for children/family allowances and divorce/separation, this project aims to investigate some specific aspects of the socio-cultural construction of an active gender citizenship by future lone mothers. The interest is in lone mothers’ everyday strategies and social practices to claim inclusion and to negotiate (or not negotiate) the dominant definition of family and parenthood proposed by institutions and professionals, and the less legitimated and multiple situated definitions of lone parents and their families. Introducing the everyday dimension into the study of gender citizenship has the purpose of exploring the lone mothers’ manifest and hidden ‘work’ of legitimation and of possible de-legitimation by institutions. Adopting the sociological approach of Institutional Ethnography (IE) as a method, this study will collect data in three EU countries (Belgium, Italy and Spain) and in the UK, with discursive interviews to lone mothers, professionals and gender issues activists, participant observations, and photo-voice. The action includes an extensive training in life course studies and gender studies, advanced qualitative methods and academic English language. This action will be hosted by the University of Antwerp, with a secondment phase at the University of Edinburgh and visits at the University of Granada and at the IEN-Institutional Ethnography Nordic Network. Fields of science humanitieslanguages and literaturegeneral language studiessocial sciencessociologygender studiessocial sciencessociologysocial issues Programme(s) H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Main Programme H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility Topic(s) MSCA-IF-2018 - Individual Fellowships Call for proposal H2020-MSCA-IF-2018 See other projects for this call Funding Scheme MSCA-IF-EF-CAR - CAR – Career Restart panel Coordinator UNIVERSITEIT ANTWERPEN Net EU contribution € 178 320,00 Address PRINSSTRAAT 13 2000 Antwerpen Belgium See on map Region Vlaams Gewest Prov. Antwerpen Arr. Antwerpen Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Total cost € 178 320,00
