Our Special Issue of Nexus is on the way!

We are pleased to advise that our special issue of NEXUS 'Families relationships and gender' edited by Deb Dempsey and Paula Wright will be out this month and we have also posted the articles here. We begin with the introduction to the issue. Although research into gender and families, and indeed the gendered character of family life, has long been a staple of the sociology discipline in Australia (and elsewhere), the thematic group formed in early 2008 to reinvigorate networking and dialogue among sociologists working in these areas.

Members’ research interests span theoretical, empirical and policy research into what Carol Smart and others call ‘personal life’ in recognition of the fact that ‘family’ operates as a subjective and emotional construct, as much as it does as a gendered social institution. Members’ current projects include work on paid/domestic labour and changing patterns of care; intergenerational relationships among adult family members; assisted reproductive technologies and family formation; gay and lesbian relationships; marriage and marital loss; children’s experiences of divorce and separation; and the social theory of personal life. One of the key aims of the group is to bring together researchers using differing methodological and conceptual approaches to the study of family, relationships and gender, and to provide a network that facilitates new conversations and connections between researchers across these areas, as well as new collaborative research opportunities that potentially combine differing approaches.

In June 2008, one of the first activities of the thematic group was to convene the ‘Life Inside Working Families’ roundtable, a forum for new and established researchers engaged in scholarship on the intersections between work and care. The objectives of the day were to outline the existing research field on Australian and New Zealand ‘working families’; facilitate dialogue between quantitative and qualitative researchers ; and identify research gaps and key questions for future research.The Melbourne-based forum attracted thematic group members from all over Australia and New Zealand. Based on the success of this day, a similar event on a theme of mutual interest to members is proposed for 2010.

The most recent initiative of the thematic group is a blog which we hope will facilitate on-line building of the membership base, as well as discussion, collaboration and paperless newsletter style announcements. Existing members were recently invited to join and are encouraged to introduce themselves and their research interests via the blog. If you are interested in joining, please contact pwright@vicnet.net.au for details.

This issue

We are very pleased to be able to say that this special issue of Nexus reflects the breadth of our current membership base in a number of ways. It includes contributions (in the form of themed articles, postgraduate reflections and research notes) from family and gender researchers from most states of Australia. The issue attracted contributors at various stages in their careers from postgraduate to professor, with interests in issues affecting urban and regional/remote communities, and with expertise in quantitative and qualitative research methodologies.

Significant life transitions is a thread linking our three themed articles. Each article takes a different focus and approach but all analyse the connections between personal and social life and examine families and relationships under conditions of demographic and economic change. Harry Blatterer reflects on sociology’s vexed relationship with the concept of generations, in the context of his empirical investigation into parental support of first homebuyers. Belinda Hewitt and Janeen Baxter discuss opportunities for advancing an understanding of relationship formation and dissolution, using the wealth of longitudinal data increasingly available to Australian researchers. Barbara Pini considers the emotional impact of the global financial crisis on mining families and communities, arguing that the effects of mine closures extend far beyond the families of sacked workers.

We extend an open invitation to join our group to all TASA members whose research interests align with family, relationships and gender. We look forward to meeting you at ANU during the 2009 TASA conference where we hope there will be a number of sessions featuring papers from our members, and at least one social occasion where we can meet informally. We will keep you posted via the website, our blog and the TASA email newsletter about sessions and planned activities at the forthcoming TASA conference and beyond.


Deb Dempsey & Paula Wright – Special Issue Editors
Jo Lindsay & Janeen Baxter - Thematic Group Convenors

Families, Relationships and Gender thematic group