Pernilla Tunberger defends her thesis on 6 May

The external reviewer is Professor Kimberly Morgan, George Washington University.

The members of the examining committee are Professor Åsa Lundqvist, Department of Sociology, Lund University, Associate Professor Emma von Essen, Department of Sociology, Uppsala University and Professor Stefano Guzzini, Department of Government, Uppsala University (chair of the public defence).

Most welcome to Brusewitzsalen, Östra Ågatan 19!

Earning, caring and the quest for sustainable societies: toward stable evolution?

How are we to both maintain ourselves and our children and be able to care for them in the way we want to? What happens to this puzzle when labor markets are liberalized, introducing new and more insecure work contracts? Can labor market flexibilization be a route to work family reconciliation, as it is often held up to be? These are central questions in this thesis, analyzing the effects of labor market liberalization on the conditions for work family reconciliation – defined as combining earning and caring in ways that balance both needs. It argues that norms and ideas on what is a good mother, a good father, and what is a good way to take care of children, are just as important for how we perceive our possibilities to organize earning and caring as family policy and labor market conditions.

It studies the cases of Italy and Sweden, and shows that analyzing societies in terms of earning-caring models, an analytical tool that emphasizes how conditions for earning interact with those for caring, offers new ways to understand what happens to our room for maneuver when labor markets change, and why. Ultimately, the thesis argues that societal sustainability is linked to individuals being able to lead good lives in which they can combine adequate earning with adequate caring, and that it is possible to stabilize evolutionary paths leading in that direction. But it will not happen by itself, it requires a deeper understanding of the institutional interactions in play, and active policymaking to stabilize those interactions and steer their outcome in a desirable direction. The thesis offers a framework allowing for understanding tensions that destabilize evolutionary paths, as well as how they may be redressed – in the quest for sustainable societies.

Find out More about Pernilla Tunberger here

Full-text available on DiVA Open Access