scholarly journals The end of the career mystique? Policy and cultural frameworks that structure the workfamily interface in the United States and Germany

2007 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 337-370
Author(s):  
Elisabeth Reichart ◽  
Noelle Chesley ◽  
Phyllis Moen
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
Mirror Image ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Case Examples ◽  
The Us ◽  
Work Family ◽  
Work And Family Roles ◽  
Gendered Work

Both Germany and the United States endorse the culture of the “career mystique,” the belief that a lifetime of continuous hard work is the path to occupational and personal success. The career mystique was the mirror image of the feminine mystique in the 1950s, and both cultural templates together reified a gendered work-family divide epitomized in the breadwinner-homemaker family norm in the middle of the 20th century. Today men and women increasingly see continuous full-time paid work as “given,” with policies in Germany and the US reifying this pattern. However, very few employees – men or women – now have the luxury of a full-time homemaker available to support the commitment necessary to sustain this lock-step career mystique path. Most notably, as workers become parents, the contradictions inherent in fulfilling the career mystique (absent reliable back-up on the domestic front) become obvious and problematic. Since couples frequently reconfigure both work and family roles with the arrival of children, we illustrate the significance of policy, institutional and cultural contexts in shaping the work/family choices these couples make. We highlight three case examples (the US, West and East Germany) to demonstrate how policy regimes and cultural schema combine to produce distinctive and gendered work patterns, thereby serving to reinforce and reproduce both gender and class disparities. Zusammenfassung In den USA und in Deutschland prägt ein falscher Karriereglaube die Vorstellung des Normallebenslaufs; der Glaube nämlich, dass lebenslange, kontinuierliche und aufstiegsorientierte Erwerbsarbeit der Schlüssel zu einem beruflich und privat erfolgreichen Leben sei. Dieser „Karrierewahn“ ist die Kehrseite des „Weiblichkeitswahns“ (Friedan 1963) der 1950er Jahre; beide kulturelle Leitbilder versinnbildlichten die Trennung der Sphären von Beruf und Familie nach Geschlecht und fanden ihren Ausdruck im Ernährermodell als Norm des Familienlebens. Im Arbeitsmarkt und im Modus der sozialen Absicherung ist die Erwartung lebenslanger Erwerbsarbeit reifiziert, und Männer und Frauen streben heute eine kontinuierliche Vollzeittätigkeit an. So haben immer weniger Beschäftigte eine „Hausfrau“, die sie in ihrer Karriere unterstützt. Erst recht wenn Arbeitnehmer(innen) Eltern werden, brechen die Konflikte zwischen den Anforderungen der Erwerbsarbeit und der erhöhten Sorge- und Hausarbeit voll auf. Bei der Geburt von Kindern werden Berufs- und Familienrollen in der Paarbeziehung neu konfiguriert; die Vereinbarkeitsmodelle, die Paare dann wählen, sind mit geprägt durch Gelegenheitsstrukturen des jeweiligen wohlfahrtsstaatlichen, institutionellen und kulturellen Kontexts. In diesem Beitrag richten wir den Fokus auf drei Fallbeispiele (die USA, West- und Ostdeutschland), um darzustellen, wie wohlfahrtsstaatliche Politik und kulturelle Schemata zusammenspielen, und dabei bestimmte, geschlechtertypisierende Erwerbsmuster bei Elternpaaren und damit soziale Ungleichheiten hervorbringen und verstärken.

Iraqi Refugees in the United States

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ken R. Crane
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Terrorist Attack ◽  
The United States ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Iraqi Refugees ◽  
Inland Empire ◽  
The Us ◽  
Communal Expression ◽  
Human Cost ◽  
Work Family

There are numerous and trenchant accounts of the tragic and disastrous Iraq War (2003–2011), which focus on its financial, human, and political cost to the US. Less has been written about the human cost to the Iraqi people in the largest displacement in the Middle East since 1948. Few Americans are cognizant that over three million Iraqis, many facing violence due to their cooperation with the US invasion and occupation, fled Iraq and that 124,159 were resettled in the US from 2008 to 2015 after an intense lobbying effort by former aid personnel and veterans. This ethnographic study explores the cartography of belonging for Iraqi refugees within a specific cultural geography—California’s Latinx-majority communities of southeastern California (known as the Inland Empire). The fieldwork in the IE spans a particular geopolitical era of resettlement mobilization, the Great Recession, and the December 2, 2015, terrorist attack in San Bernardino. The attack was immediately followed by candidate Donald Trump’s naming of Arab and Muslim refugees (including Iraqis) as threats to national security. With the mainstreaming of Islamophobia during the presidential election, the United States ceased to be a free space of religious and communal expression. Drawing on seven years of fieldwork with fifty Iraqi refugees, this book is a witness to how the felt sense of belonging—cultural citizenship—is negotiated within the social spaces of work, family, faith community.

Expanding the boundaries of work—family research: A review and agenda for future research

2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 221-268 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret A. Shaffer ◽  
Janice R. W. Joplin ◽  
Yu-Shan Hsu
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Empirical Work ◽  
The United States ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Work Family Conflict ◽  
Family Research ◽  
Future Research Directions ◽  
Antecedents And Consequences ◽  
Work Family

Given the dominance of work—family research within the context of the United States and a disparate and fractured understanding of the dynamic interplay between work and family for those who live and work beyond the borders of the United States, we review and synthesize 219 empirical work—family studies that have targeted employees outside of the United States. Our review answers four questions about international work—family research. First, what constitutes the work—family interface and is there consensus about how to measure it? Second, what theories have researchers used to explain the work—family interface? Third, which antecedents and consequences of the work—family interface are common across countries and which are unique to particular countries? Fourth, what can we learn from this review that will inform future research in this area? Based on our review, a universal theoretical framework that integrates both work—family conflict and facilitation is provided. Future research directions are also discussed.

Introduction

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine Rottenberg
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
The United States ◽  
Popular Imagination ◽  
Liberal Feminism ◽  
The Past ◽  
Family Balance ◽  
The Us ◽  
Work Family

Providing the cultural context for the rise of neoliberal feminism in the United States, the introductory chapter of The Rise of Neoliberal Feminism begins by laying out the book’s key conceptual terms, such as human capital, work-family balance, affect, and happiness. It then maps out the way in which feminism has been represented in the US popular imagination over the past hundred years, differentiating among classic liberal feminism, postfeminism, and neoliberal feminism, while underscoring the book’s theoretical contributions. Finally, it provides an overview of the book’s overall trajectory, offering a chapter-by-chapter outline, highlighting each chapter’s major arguments, contributions, and assumptions.

scholarly journals Attitudes Toward Women’s Work and Family Roles in the United States, 1976–2013

2015 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristin Donnelly ◽  
Jean M. Twenge ◽  
Malissa A. Clark ◽  
Samia K. Shaikh ◽  
Angela Beiler-May ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Women's Work ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
Family Roles ◽  
Women’S Work ◽  
Work And Family Roles

scholarly journals Indian Women in Technology: An Empirical Analysis of Role Conflict

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Aiswarya ◽  
G. Ramasundaram
Keyword(s):  
Role Conflict ◽  
Family Conflict ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Work Family Conflict ◽  
Time Dimension ◽  
Indian Women ◽  
Women In Technology ◽  
Work Family ◽  
Work And Family Roles

An important issue that our society has been facing in the recent past is the changing work and family roles of Indian women. Woman, today, function within multiple roles simultaneously operating in both work and family domains as a mother, spouse, housekeeper, as well as maintaining full-time employment outside the home. The relationship between these dual roles has thus become a topic of interest among organizational researchers. This study deals with selected antecedents and their influence on the role conflict among Indian women in technology. A sample size of 598 Indian women in technology was taken for the study and the result shows the occurrence of work-family conflict. Three predominant factors that influence the work-family conflict time-dimension are work exhaustion, work thought interference and perceived workload in the order of merit.  

The United States and the Iranian Nuclear Programme

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven Hurst
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Domestic Politics ◽  
The United States ◽  
Nixon Administration ◽  
Comprehensive Plan ◽  
The Us ◽  
Nuclear Issue ◽  
The Relationship

The United States, Iran and the Bomb provides the first comprehensive analysis of the US-Iranian nuclear relationship from its origins through to the signing of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2015. Starting with the Nixon administration in the 1970s, it analyses the policies of successive US administrations toward the Iranian nuclear programme. Emphasizing the centrality of domestic politics to decision-making on both sides, it offers both an explanation of the evolution of the relationship and a critique of successive US administrations' efforts to halt the Iranian nuclear programme, with neither coercive measures nor inducements effectively applied. The book further argues that factional politics inside Iran played a crucial role in Iranian nuclear decision-making and that American policy tended to reinforce the position of Iranian hardliners and undermine that of those who were prepared to compromise on the nuclear issue. In the final chapter it demonstrates how President Obama's alterations to American strategy, accompanied by shifts in Iranian domestic politics, finally brought about the signing of the JCPOA in 2015.

‘To see oursels as ithers see us’: Reflections on Scottish Independence from the United States

2014 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 381-388 ◽  
Author(s):  
Euan Hague ◽  
Alan Mackie
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Us ◽  
Scottish Independence ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Scottish Diaspora

The United States media have given rather little attention to the question of the Scottish referendum despite important economic, political and military links between the US and the UK/Scotland. For some in the US a ‘no’ vote would be greeted with relief given these ties: for others, a ‘yes’ vote would be acclaimed as an underdog escaping England's imperium, a narrative clearly echoing America's own founding story. This article explores commentary in the US press and media as well as reporting evidence from on-going interviews with the Scottish diaspora in the US. It concludes that there is as complex a picture of the 2014 referendum in the United States as there is in Scotland.

Palestine Unbound

2018 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 130-134
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Task Force ◽  
The United States ◽  
Donald Trump ◽  
Tel Aviv ◽  
The Us ◽  
Intention To Move ◽  
Arab Israeli Conflict ◽  
The U.S

This section, updated regularly on the blog Palestine Square, covers popular conversations related to the Palestinians and the Arab-Israeli conflict during the quarter 16 November 2017 to 15 February 2018: #JerusalemIstheCapitalofPalestine went viral after U.S. president Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and announced his intention to move the U.S. embassy there from Tel Aviv. The arrest of Palestinian teenager Ahed Tamimi for slapping an Israeli soldier also prompted a viral campaign under the hashtag #FreeAhed. A smaller campaign protested the exclusion of Palestinian human rights from the agenda of the annual Creating Change conference organized by the US-based National LGBTQ Task Force in Washington. And, UNRWA publicized its emergency funding appeal, following the decision of the United States to slash funding to the organization, with the hashtag #DignityIsPriceless.

Against Slave Power? Slavery and Runaway Slaves in Mexico-United States Relations, 1821–1857

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 143-170
Author(s):  
Gerardo Gurza-Lavalle
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
The United States ◽  
The South ◽  
Runaway Slaves ◽  
The Us ◽  
El Alto ◽  
Upper South ◽  
Lower South

This work analyses the diplomatic conflicts that slavery and the problem of runaway slaves provoked in relations between Mexico and the United States from 1821 to 1857. Slavery became a source of conflict after the colonization of Texas. Later, after the US-Mexico War, slaves ran away into Mexican territory, and therefore slaveholders and politicians in Texas wanted a treaty of extradition that included a stipulation for the return of fugitives. This article contests recent historiography that considers the South (as a region) and southern politicians as strongly influential in the design of foreign policy, putting into question the actual power not only of the South but also of the United States as a whole. The problem of slavery divided the United States and rendered the pursuit of a proslavery foreign policy increasingly difficult. In addition, the South never acted as a unified bloc; there were considerable differences between the upper South and the lower South. These differences are noticeable in the fact that southerners in Congress never sought with enough energy a treaty of extradition with Mexico. The article also argues that Mexico found the necessary leeway to defend its own interests, even with the stark differential of wealth and resources existing between the two countries. El presente trabajo analiza los conflictos diplomáticos entre México y Estados Unidos que fueron provocados por la esclavitud y el problema de los esclavos fugitivos entre 1821 y 1857. La esclavitud se convirtió en fuente de conflicto tras la colonización de Texas. Más tarde, después de la guerra Mexico-Estados Unidos, algunos esclavos se fugaron al territorio mexicano y por lo tanto dueños y políticos solicitaron un tratado de extradición que incluyera una estipulación para el retorno de los fugitivos. Este artículo disputa la idea de la historiografía reciente que considera al Sur (en cuanto región), así como a los políticos sureños, como grandes influencias en el diseño de la política exterior, y pone en tela de juicio el verdadero poder no sólo del Sur sino de Estados Unidos en su conjunto. El problema de la esclavitud dividió a Estados Unidos y dificultó cada vez más el impulso de una política exterior que favoreciera la esclavitud. Además, el Sur jamás operó como unidad: había diferencias marcadas entre el Alto Sur y el Bajo Sur. Estas diferencias se observan en el hecho de que los sureños en el Congreso jamás se esforzaron en buscar con suficiente energía un tratado de extradición con México. El artículo también sostiene que México halló el margen de maniobra necesario para defender sus propios intereses, pese a los fuertes contrastes de riqueza y recursos entre los dos países.

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