1-day workshop at the Institute of Education, London, 7th April 2014

The topics of gender, equality and intimacy are becoming increasingly established as important subjects of investigation in the social sciences. Much of this literature points to their intersections in the context of personal life (Gabb 2010, Jamieson 1998, Smart 2007) and the clash between ‘ideal’ relationships promoted by policy and expert or self-help literature and the actual pragmatics of family life (Gillies 2009, Jensen and Tylor 2013). For example, while there is a commitment to encouraging ‘gender equality’ in working cultures and family life in contemporary UK policy, wider cultures of parenting rely on heavily gendered models of appropriate care (Dermot 2008, Faircloth 2013). This workshop seeks to explore further how such intersections of equality and intimacy are experienced by men, women and families, whether as part of a wider ‘therapeutic turn’ in the ethics of self-knowledge (Furedi 2004, Hochschild 2003, Illouz 2007) or as part of a modernisation project in the context of nation building (Twamley 2012).

The workshop will showcase cutting edge research from junior and mid-level academics with more senior scholars in the field acting as discussants. Confirmed discussants include Dr Meg Barker, Dr Esther Dermott, Professor Andrea Doucet, Dr Jacqui Gabb, Professor Ros Gill, Professor Lynn Jamieson, Professor Yvette Taylor and Professor Jeffrey Weeks. A programme is available here

Tickets are limited and will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis.