14. Juni 2006 | News

Call for Papers: Changes in living arrangements and family relationships in the context of strong family ties. Southern Europe and Eastern Asia: Trends, causes, and consequences

Nur in englischer Sprache verfügbar.

Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research
University of Padua
Rostock Center for the Study of Demographic Change

Rostock
18-19 April 2007

Organizers:
Laura Bernardi and Gianpiero Dalla Zuanna

While Southern Europe (SE) and the industrialized countries in South East Asia (SEA) are very different in terms of their socio-political history and organization, they are relatively similar in terms of family practices and welfare system orientations. On the one hand, the intense exchange among the family members is characteristic of a context of "strong family ties" On the other, the welfare system of both regions supports the family as a unit (familistic welfare state) but delegates support for individual family members to the family.

During the last two decades, Southern Europe and South East Asian regions experienced similar rapid changes in their demographic developments (the emergence of very low fertility) while certain forms of family organization persisted (e.g., the slow diffusion of non-marital cohabitation and childbearing). The new conditions are challenging the local welfare systems and the nature of family relationships in these contexts. The aim of the workshop is to analyze the causes and consequences of what appear to be parallel developments in the living arrangements in these countries in their respective cultural, socio-political, and legal contexts. Another issue to address is the implications these changes have on family relationships and social equality.

The topics of the workshops are:

• Trends and forms of living arrangements and family relationships in SE and SEA regions
• Economic, political, and cultural determinants of living arrangements and family relationships in SE and SEA regions
• Socio-political implications of living arrangements and family relationships, and their legal frame in SE and SEA regions

The Workshop aims to be interdisciplinary. Empirical and theoretical submissions from the disciplines of demography, sociology, anthropology, statistics, economics, political sciences, and law are welcome.

Travel costs for presenters will be covered by the MPIDR. Abstracts should be one page long, contain the authors’ contact information, and received by the 15th of December 2006 latest. Please send it to Laura Bernardi. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions.