SOS9235 ¨C Gender equality, family change and family policy: new theoretical developments

Course content

Gender relations and families come increasingly with various features and in various shapes. Contemporary transformations are connected to societal trends, such as individualization, migration, new technologies, new inequalities, and changing family policies.?How are we to conceptualize recent and ongoing changes in gender relations, family structure and family life? Which mechanisms are at work when individuals and families adapt to new social circumstances? What are the implications for social justice and policy??This PhD course zooms in on new theoretical developments in the study of family and gender. Three lines of theorizing will be covered. First, classification and categorization of new family and gender regimes and of family policies. Second, explanatory models and theories of family change, with a particular focus on the role of gender and gender equality. Third, theories of social justice, with a particular focus on the relationship between family change and equal opportunities, and the role of family policy. The course will link theoretical discussions closely to methodological discussions and empirical findings. It will be a central aim for the course to connect research and theorizing in sociology to relevant research fronts in demography, political theory and policy studies.?

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Course leaders

Professor Cathrine Holst, UiO. Her academic interests include political theory, public policy and gender studies. She has been head of several research projects on science-policy relations. She is currently leader of a research group at the Centre for Advanced Studies (CAS) in Oslo with the project "What is a good policy?" (GOODPOL).

Professor Trude Lappeg?rd, UiO. Her academic interests include family demography, gender equality and family policy. She is PI for a major research project about falling fertility and rising inequalities in fertility where the aim is to unpack the underlying mechanisms behind the falling fertility trend and the rising fertility inequalities in the younger generations. She is also the Editor-in-chief in European Journal of Population.

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Lecturers

Senior researcher Gerda Neyer, Stockholm University. She is a leading scholar in family demography and her academic interest has been at the intersection of demography and political science with a focus on the role of institutional and political factors, welfare states, gender and social (in) equality in family development in contemporary European countries.

Professor Gina Schouten, Harvard University. Her research interests are in the areas of social and political philosophy and ethics. Central research topics are educational justice, the gendered division of labor, public policy and political legitimacy. Her most recent book is?Liberalism, Neutrality, and the Gendered Division of Labor (Oxford University Press).

Learning outcome

You will obtain knowledge about:

• new theoretical developments in the study of family and gender
• the role of gender equality on family dynamics
• the relationship between family policies and family behavior
• the relationship between family research and policy recommendations
• the role of the family from the perspective of social justice

The participants will be encouraged to relate the course discussions to their PhD-projects.

The course will focus on involving students in both plenary discussions and work in groups.

Admission to the course

PhD students at the Department of Sociology and Human Geography register for the course in?StudentWeb.

Interested participant outside?the Department of Sociology and Human Geography shall fill out this application form.?There is some, although limited funding available for covering hotel costs. Please indicate in the application form whether you apply for such coverage.

The deadline for registration is 18th August?2023.?After the deadline shall all applicants receive a note about if?the application is approved.

Formal prerequisite knowledge

Applicants must be part of a PhD program. No specific prior knowledge is required, but initial knowledge of one or more of the topics of the course is an advantage.

Teaching

The teaching will involve a combination of lectures, discussions and work in groups. The students will work on a group assignment during the course to be presented on the final day of the course.

?Obligatory activities:

• Read the assigned literature in advance

• Participate actively in discussions during the course

• Prepare a group presentation during the course

?Taking part in the full program requires physical attendance. Academic interventions from invited guest speakers may?be done via a digital platform.

Examination

The entire four-day event makes up the PhD course, with the equivalent of?5 credits. For approval you need to be an active participant throughout the course, be present on all days,?read the curriculum and submit an essay.

Submit essay based on your own research. The essay must be between 4000-6000 words.?The essay must be anchored in the course literature, and discuss a theoretical issue relevant for the course.?Further specifications of the requirements to the essay will be provided to the participants.

Deadline for submission of essay: December 21st 2023. The participants will then receive comments, after which they will have three weeks to submit the final version.

Examination support material

All exam support materials are allowed during this exam. Generating all or part of the exam answer using AI tools such as Chat GPT or similar is not allowed.

Grading scale

Grades are awarded on a pass/fail scale. Read more about?the grading system.

More about examinations at UiO

• Use of sources and citations
• Special exam arrangements due to individual needs
• Withdrawal from an exam
• Illness at exams / postponed exams
• Explanation of grades and appeals
• Resitting an exam
• Cheating/attempted cheating

You will find further guides and resources at the web page on examinations at UiO.