Birthing in regional Australia: women

This article contributes to our understanding of how children cope with economic insecurity in affluent nations. Based on research with children and adults in regional Australia, it argues for the importance of cultural narratives in making sense of children’s strategies to cope with financial hardship. Drawing on Goffman’s concept of ‘facework’, and recent analysis by Pugh, it analyses the complex forms of facework that children use to manage situations of economic insecurity and shows how such practices may be anchored in cultural narratives of ‘fairness’. Goffman’s ‘facework’ refers to the expressive order required to save face, a term used to signify how we participate in a social regime, particularly when we perform unexpected feelings. In this article, the author develops a theoretical framework to analyse three types of facework used by children from low-income families in this Australian context, and coins these practices ‘going without’, ‘cutting down’, and ‘staying within’. Through such facework, children sought to maintain inclusion and uphold dignity, practices which were increasingly difficult amidst rising inequality. This raised contradictions in belonging and acceptance among others, particularly for children from refugee backgrounds.

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Energy and communication infrastructure for disaster resilience in rural and regional Australia

Regional Studies ◽

10.1080/00343404.2016.1146403 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 51 (6) ◽

pp. 933-944 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Julie Freeman ◽

Linda Hancock

Keyword(s):

Disaster Resilience ◽

Communication Infrastructure ◽

Regional Australia

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Social enterprises and community wellbeing in regional Australia

Journal of Sociology ◽

10.1177/14407833211035839 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 144078332110358

Author(s):

Katharine McKinnon ◽

Melissa Kennedy ◽

Tracy De Cotta

Keyword(s):

Social Enterprises ◽

Research Project ◽

Goods And Services ◽

Community Wellbeing ◽

Community Economy ◽

Supported Work ◽

Regional Australia ◽

Study Offer

This article reflects on a research project that has mapped the ways in which social enterprises in regional Australian cities produce wellbeing for their employees. The majority of enterprises in this study offer supported work opportunities to people with a disability while also running commercially viable enterprises delivering goods and services to regional communities. These enterprises demonstrate the challenges and the potential for organisations in regional settings to contribute in meaningful ways, not only to the wellbeing of the workers they support, but to the wellbeing of the broader community. This article considers how social enterprises are understood to be contributing to regional communities and situates them as key actors in a community economy that contributes to wider community wellbeing as distinct from individual wellbeing.

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