Strive for education

Struggling to Raise Children: Globalization, Parental Anxieties and Unequal Childhoods

Why is being a parent so hard?
Parenting anxiety serves as a mirror reflecting the face of contemporary Taiwan. People often assume that parenting is the concern of individual parents. However, faced with the uncertain future of globalization, growing class inequality, and various invisible structural forces and social boundaries, today's generation of parents is collectively feeling anxious and uneasy.
Faced with a seemingly insecure and uncertain future, contemporary Taiwanese parents are adopting various educational and parenting strategies in an attempt to ensure the well-being of the next generation. Ironically, these safety strategies often make us feel even less secure.
From striving for economic success to striving for parenting, parents who grew up in Taiwan's "economically competitive" era now prioritize parenting. They yearn to break free from the shadows of corporal punishment and the college entrance exam, becoming parents who differ significantly from their predecessors. They also hope that their children will have greater abilities and opportunities to explore the world in this globalized world. Despite having more resources than ever before, this generation of parents is increasingly anxious about parenting, constantly wondering if they are doing too little, too much, not doing it well, or doing it wrong.
Visibly Viewing Contemporary Taiwan Through Parenting Anxiety: This book uses parenting anxiety as a lens to reveal the risks and challenges Taiwan faces in the context of globalization, including a relatively stagnant local economy and wages, closer integration and competition with global capitalism, and the uncertainty of industrial change. The widening class gap is shaping the unequal childhoods of many children through parenting.
Lan Pei-chia, Distinguished Professor of Sociology at National Taiwan University, continues her observation and exploration of social inequality in "A Transnational Cinderella." From cities to rural areas, she conducts in-depth field interviews with nearly 60 families and conducts on-site observations in schools. Focusing on the differences between the middle class and the working class, she analyzes several major parenting models currently in Taiwan, asking why parents make certain choices and the impact of these choices on families and children. This is an important field report for understanding the current state of contemporary parenting in Taiwan.

2019-06-01

春山出版

408

9789869735940