SOCIO-CULTURAL PICTURE OF SOCIAL WORK WITH A PATERNAL SINGLE-PARENT FAMILY

In the context of social work with lone fathers, the article demonstrates the need for knowledge of the socio-cultural condition of living and socialization of the client in order to effectively solve his problems. It is proved that paternal mono parenthood becomes a real life test for those men (fathers), whose socialization happened within the framework of the so-called traditional culture, with patriarchal gender stereotypes, with absolutization and rigid differentiation of paternal and maternal roles.

Smartphone mothering and mediated family display: Transnational family practices in a polymedia environment among Indonesian mothers in Hong Kong

Steady demand for migrant domestic workers from developing countries continues to normalize an intriguing form of geographically dispersed families from which the mothers migrate and become the breadwinners. Despite the distance, migrant mothers remain committed to the preservation of intimacy by utilizing communication media to perform and “display” family practices. Using polymedia and displaying family as theoretical frameworks, this ethnographic study examines how smartphones shape family practices among migrant mothers. Through participant observation and in-depth interviews with 30 Indonesian mothers in Hong Kong, it illustrates how smartphones transform the configuration of mothering practices and power structures underpinning family interaction in the process of mediated family display. Smartphones, as polymedia, enable migrant mothers to assert authority over the display of maternal roles, relationships, and rituals, both materially and discursively. Given that their relationships are experienced almost exclusively via smartphone communication, directing the communication effectively means defining the shape and characteristics of the family. The findings problematize the depiction of migrant mothers as victims of communication technologies, highlighting their authorial privilege when displaying family. This article also presents a critical reflection on mediated family practices by illustrating cases of failed display.

Women's Sense of Security at Work: Maternal Role and Fear of An Uncertain Future

Women's participation in the work space is needed, however, the workplace's ability to provide a sense of security for women is still not optimal, especially when pregnant or breastfeeding. This study aimed to explore the construction of female workers' sense of security when carrying out their maternity roles. This study used qualitative approach with thematic analysis methods to construct a sense of safety variable. The respondents were eight women who cleaned and skinned fish in fish processing companies. The results showed that female workers have concerns and fears when carrying out their maternal roles (pregnancy, childbirth, and breastfeeding), which hinders the formation of a sense of security work. Little or less sense of security felt by female workers comes from three major themes, namely physical demands at work, a work environment that is not conducive and uncertainty in work relationships that raise concerns in carrying out their maternal roles. Security for working women is not only determined by physical security, but also by the degree of certainty or uncertainty in the work relationship.

Unwilling and Unprepared: Collective Responsibility for Traumatic Wartime Motherhood

What does it mean to mother children born of illicit wartime relations? This article examines the detrimental effects of motherhood as a patriarchal institution shaped by nationalism/ethnocentrism and its impact on “sentimental collaborators” in WWII France, survivors of genocidal rape in Rwanda, and returning Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) “wives” in Uganda. Using a corpus of written and oral testimonies by/about mothers of children born of war (CBOW), it argues that all mothers experienced trauma in their maternal roles and that communities were often complicit in perpetuating mother–child trauma post-conflict. Understanding such collective responsibility is crucial to our capacity to help future survivors of systemic violence.

Tensile Strength

In studies of contemporary Chinese art, Lin Tianmiao’s work has been overwhelmingly discussed in terms of women’s crafts and maternal roles. Citing her use of embroidery and the female figure, these interpretations have led to broad and often simplified characterizations of her work as “women’s art.” In focusing exclusively on symbolic allusions to gender representation, these discussions overlook the possibility of more complex narratives arising from Lin’s artistic concerns. By starting from the formal, material, and spatial components of her work, this article reveals how Lin has enacted penetrating investigations into manifestations of resistance and tension between physical forms and objects. Replete with taut lines and trembling vibrations, her work scrutinizes the nature of her materials, their limitations, and relationships among different parts of an installation. By tracing such formal and spatial devices, this article reveals three central topics at the heart of Lin’s oeuvre: the insufficiency of language, the urgency of form, and latent visibility. The exploration of these abstract concepts helps us move away from overt symbolic readings of her materials. These topics help show how Lin uses her art as tactics of intervention for interrogating practices of classification in contemporary Chinese art. As such, this article does not discount commentary on identity or gender but, rather, allows for richer, interrelated frameworks for understanding both her work and how it has been historically treated.

What Does the UN Have to Say About Family Policy? Reflections on the ILO, UNICEF, and UN Women

This chapter considers three UN entities with mandates that have particular relevance for family policy: the ILO, UNICEF, and UN Women. Each organization sees family policy through its own lens, shaped by its mandate and institutional culture. While this means path-dependency, there is also learning. While there is no ‘one UN’ approach to family policy, there is considerable cross-fertilization across agencies. The ILO has long engaged with family policy through its standard-setting work, most notably its conventions on maternity protection, which has tended to bypass men’s role in families. Driven by its child-centric mandate, UNICEF’s focus on children, has arguably left out the needs of working parents, especially mothers who are largely seen in their maternal roles. The youngest of the three, UN Women, has expanded the terrain of family policy by centering key feminist concerns, such as domestic violence, but its work on family policy has yet to find a strong programmatic footing. The growing global interest in the care economy, reinforced by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), alongside transformations in gender roles, may account for the recent turn to family policy.