ABSTRACT
Maya Halatcheva-Trapp shows the analytical potential of the sociology of knowledge and discourse theory for researching parenthood, gender, and co-presence on the basis of a study on discourses in post-separation family counselling. First, the contribution outlines sociological approaches to the theoretical conception of the family as a symbolic order. In addition to symbolic-interactionist, phenomenological, and praxeological perspectives, most notably, discourse-analytic perspectives on the family are introduced. Subsequently, Halatcheva-Trapp presents empirical findings from her dissertation study and shows which knowledge problems are formulated and answered simultaneously in the discourse on parenthood in the context of separation and divorce. The contribution is situated at the intersection of family and knowledge sociology and stands as a plea for the support of interpretive and cultural-theoretically inspired analyses of the family.
