Following the international conference Close relations: a multi-and interdisciplinary conference on critical family and kinship studies, the Swedish Network for Family and Kinship Studies invites chapters for a contributed volume which will explore, discuss and theorise single/solo/lone parenting in Europe and North America. Palgrave Macmillan have expressed a provisional interest in publishing the volume in the Palgrave Macmillan Studies in Family and Intimate Life series. 

Recent years have witnessed a growing emphasis on “family values” in the EU, with ongoing debates about marriage, migration, procreative practices, parental leave, meanings of childhood, and gendered divisions of (care) labour. In a time marked by globalisation and migration, as well as neoliberalism and the rise of nationalism, an increasing recognition of non-conventional families and kin constellations has run parallel with re-affirmations of the nuclear family form. Amidst these changes, the single parent, whether single by choice or by external circumstances, is a potentially divisive character that challenges traditional notions of family. 

The aim of this contributed volume is to investigate political and public discourses and representations of the lone parent (mother and father), to problematise and move beyond stereotypes, in order to broaden our knowledge of single parenthood in contemporary societies. 

Topics may include, but are not limited to:

• representations of single parents in popular culture
• representations of single parents in mass and social media
• cultural attitudes
• gender issues
• LGBTQIA issues
• legislation
• politics
• medical contexts

The chapters should be c. 7 000 words, including endnotes and bibliography.

Send your proposal, of no more than 300 words, together with a brief biography to Berit Åström berit.astrom@umu.se or Disa Bergnehr disa.bergnehr@ju.se no later than 1 March, 2019. Notification of acceptance will be given no later than 15 March, 2019.

Deadline for submission of completed chapter is 1 October 2019.