Father Involvement, Care, and Breadwinning: Genealogies of Concepts and Revisioned Conceptual Narratives

This paper addresses an enduring puzzle in fathering research: Why are care and breadwinning largely configured as binary oppositions rather than as relational and intra-acting concepts and practices, as is often the case in research on mothering? Guided by Margaret Somers’ historical soci...

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Main Author: Andrea Doucet
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2020-01-01
Series:Genealogy
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2313-5778/4/1/14
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spelling doaj-aa3b45c9fc8e47e48b08521cdc8db1e42020-11-25T02:16:09ZengMDPI AGGenealogy2313-57782020-01-01411410.3390/genealogy4010014genealogy4010014Father Involvement, Care, and Breadwinning: Genealogies of Concepts and Revisioned Conceptual NarrativesAndrea Doucet0Faculty of Social Sciences, Brock University, St. Catharines, ON L2S 3A1, CanadaThis paper addresses an enduring puzzle in fathering research: Why are care and breadwinning largely configured as binary oppositions rather than as relational and intra-acting concepts and practices, as is often the case in research on mothering? Guided by Margaret Somers’ historical sociology of concept formation, I conduct a Foucauldian-inspired genealogy of the concept of “father involvement” as a cultural and historical object embedded in specific histories, conceptual networks, and social and conceptual narratives. With the aim of un-thinking and re-thinking conceptual possibilities that might expand knowledges about fathering, care, and breadwinning, I look to researchers in other sites who have drawn attention to the relationalities of care and earning. Specifically, I explore two conceptual pathways: First the concept of “material indirect care”, from fatherhood research pioneer Joseph Pleck, which envisages breadwinning as connected to care, and, in some contexts, as a form of care; and second, the concept of “provisioning” from the work of feminist economists, which highlights broad, interwoven patterns of care work and paid work. I argue that an approach to concepts that connect or entangle caring and breadwinning recognizes that people are care providers, care receivers, financial providers, and financial receivers in varied and multiple ways across time. This move is underpinned by, and can shift, our understandings of human subjectivity as relational and intra-dependent, with inevitable periods of dependency and vulnerability across the life course. Such a view also acknowledges the critical role of resources, services, and policies for supporting and sustaining the provisioning and caring activities of all parents, including fathers. Finally, I note the theoretical and political risks of this conceptual exercise, and the need for caution when making an argument about fathers’ breadwinning and caregiving entanglements.https://www.mdpi.com/2313-5778/4/1/14father involvementcare and breadwinningprovisioningindirect caregenealogieshistorical epistemologiesrelational ontologieshistorical sociology of concept formation
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Andrea Doucet
spellingShingle Andrea Doucet
Father Involvement, Care, and Breadwinning: Genealogies of Concepts and Revisioned Conceptual Narratives
Genealogy
father involvement
care and breadwinning
provisioning
indirect care
genealogies
historical epistemologies
relational ontologies
historical sociology of concept formation
author_facet Andrea Doucet
author_sort Andrea Doucet
title Father Involvement, Care, and Breadwinning: Genealogies of Concepts and Revisioned Conceptual Narratives
title_short Father Involvement, Care, and Breadwinning: Genealogies of Concepts and Revisioned Conceptual Narratives
title_full Father Involvement, Care, and Breadwinning: Genealogies of Concepts and Revisioned Conceptual Narratives
title_fullStr Father Involvement, Care, and Breadwinning: Genealogies of Concepts and Revisioned Conceptual Narratives
title_full_unstemmed Father Involvement, Care, and Breadwinning: Genealogies of Concepts and Revisioned Conceptual Narratives
title_sort father involvement, care, and breadwinning: genealogies of concepts and revisioned conceptual narratives
publisher MDPI AG
series Genealogy
issn 2313-5778
publishDate 2020-01-01
description This paper addresses an enduring puzzle in fathering research: Why are care and breadwinning largely configured as binary oppositions rather than as relational and intra-acting concepts and practices, as is often the case in research on mothering? Guided by Margaret Somers’ historical sociology of concept formation, I conduct a Foucauldian-inspired genealogy of the concept of “father involvement” as a cultural and historical object embedded in specific histories, conceptual networks, and social and conceptual narratives. With the aim of un-thinking and re-thinking conceptual possibilities that might expand knowledges about fathering, care, and breadwinning, I look to researchers in other sites who have drawn attention to the relationalities of care and earning. Specifically, I explore two conceptual pathways: First the concept of “material indirect care”, from fatherhood research pioneer Joseph Pleck, which envisages breadwinning as connected to care, and, in some contexts, as a form of care; and second, the concept of “provisioning” from the work of feminist economists, which highlights broad, interwoven patterns of care work and paid work. I argue that an approach to concepts that connect or entangle caring and breadwinning recognizes that people are care providers, care receivers, financial providers, and financial receivers in varied and multiple ways across time. This move is underpinned by, and can shift, our understandings of human subjectivity as relational and intra-dependent, with inevitable periods of dependency and vulnerability across the life course. Such a view also acknowledges the critical role of resources, services, and policies for supporting and sustaining the provisioning and caring activities of all parents, including fathers. Finally, I note the theoretical and political risks of this conceptual exercise, and the need for caution when making an argument about fathers’ breadwinning and caregiving entanglements.
topic father involvement
care and breadwinning
provisioning
indirect care
genealogies
historical epistemologies
relational ontologies
historical sociology of concept formation
url https://www.mdpi.com/2313-5778/4/1/14
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