Parenting the crisis: The cultural politics of parent-blame - Softcover

"Quite simply a stunning tour de force. A riveting, page-turning dissection of the relationships between parenting culture, policy and neoliberalism... it analyses a staggering variety of texts and draws upon extensive interview data to explore the roots and ramifications of `mother-blame' in particular. It is a highly original and profoundly important sociological analysis... It is destined to become not only the book to read on parent-blame under neoliberal statecraft, but a classic in feminist media studies and political sociology. Beautifully written with a voice of urgency and integrity, the book offers... an illustration of why politically engaged and theoretically informed scholarship is so important in the context of chronic and widening social inequalities." Dr Tom Slater, University of Edinburgh "A timely, energetic, and engaging critique of the presumptions behind parent-blaming in culture and policy-making." Dr Jennie Bristow, Canterbury Christ Church University "A valuable contribution to the debate about the significance of `parenting' and an educative case study in the social construction of the `bad parent'." Jan Macvarish, University of Kent

This book examines how pathologising ideas of failing, chaotic and dysfunctional families create a powerful consensus that Britain is in the grip of a ‘parent crisis’ and are used to justify increasingly punitive state policies.