Reconciliation Policy in Germany 1998-2008: Construing the 'Problem' of the Incompatibility of Paid Employment and Care Work

Grebe, Cornelius

‘In all research, the choice of object is primary and decisive. This refers to the set of c- cepts which determines the delimitation among the totality of phenomena of those selected as objects of analysis’(Topalov 1979: 446). In this quote Topalov addresses the ‘fundamental illusion’ of empiricist research approaches: that objects of inquiry are self-evident givens. The rejection of this - piricist ‘illusion’constitutes the foundation of this thesis. This thesis modifies a c- textual social constructionist paradigm of inquiry and combines it with a feminist standpoint in the analysis of policies claimed to be aimed at reconciling paid - ployment and care work in Germany from 1998 to 2005. 1.1 Genesis of the study The present study developed out of three interrelated strands of our intellectual - riosity which evolved, triggered by an engagement with a discipline unique to the UK in its approach, Social Policy. First, in what can be described as a fruitful int- lectual adaptation process to a new discipline, an initial interest in welfare state transformation in Eastern Europe developed into a keen interest in family policies.

Details

Published by: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften

Publication Date: 2009-10-08

Format: Paperback

ISBN-13: 9783531169156

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-531-91924-9

Dimensions: 210cm x140cm

Pages: 244