Hjemmepasseres engagement

En stræben efter indre ro, handlekraft og håbet om et bedre samfund

Abstract

The engagements of stay-at-home parents: A quest for personal ease, will-power and a more just society

Politicians have repeatedly emphasized the idea that labour market participation is important, both for the individual citizen and for the realization of a good society as such. Nevertheless, this idea is recently being challenged by groups of people pursuing good lives by downscaling their engagement in paid work. The article contributes to our understanding of such tendencies. Empirically, it draws on qualitative interviews with parents who have opted out of the labour market to care for their children at home. Theoretically, the article seeks to unfold and demonstrate Laurent Thévenot’s sociology of engagement as an analytical framework. In particular, we draw on his conceptualization of human doubt and his tripartite distinction between familial, planning, and justificatory engagement. The analysis shows that our informants’ choices are not simply related to their work ethic: By choosing lives as stay-at-home parents, they seek 1) to achieve feelings of being at ease in their everyday life, 2) to show agency and plan for the best possible life and 3) to contribute positively to the ongoing development of society and its values as such.