ABSTRACT

Parenting has long been considered of the utmost significance when it comes to passing on social norms and values and continuing kinship, family and community life. The literature on changing parenting culture draws on important traditions within sociology around not only the ‘doing’ and ‘display’ of family but also individualisation and risk-consciousness. Sociological work has situated 'parenting' as critical for understanding contemporary changes in modern society - particularly in the US and the UK but increasingly in other contexts also. Parenting is invoked as the source of, and solution to, a whole range of problems - at both individual, and social levels. Child rearing has become increasingly mediated through a cultural narrative that provides parents with about how to fulfill their roles as mothers and fathers. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.