"The Changing Asian Family: A Support System with Holes?"
A Conference Jointly Hosted by the Asia Research Institute and Department
of Sociology, National University of Singapore
May 24-26, 2004
(Final Announcement)
Changes in the structure and composition of the Asian family and in the larger environment in which families are situated are having profound consequences for the family's ability to attend to members' social welfare needs. This conference seeks to bring together researchers from a diversity of disciplines to look at ways in which Asian families are contributing physically, socially and economically to the welfare of their members and how social structures and institutions are either helping or hindering families' ability to serve in this capacity.
The conference will look at issues of familial support and their consequences for providers and recipients at various points in the life course and under different circumstances, both anticipated and unexpected. It will seek to draw parallels between the experiences of families in different Asian settings and to show how families' experiences are reflective of or responses to larger social and economic trends. Finally, it will look at the contributions of programs and policies in enabling families to function in a supportive capacity or hindering their efforts to do so.
Among the themes which may be explored in plenary sessions and panels are:
* Post-partum care and support for new mothers
* Changing child care needs and arrangements
* Elderly individuals as support or care providers
* Caregiving arrangements for persons with terminal illness such as
AIDS
* Maintenance of familial relationships in the wake of divorce or separation
* Policies and programs supporting families caring for dependents
* Support by and for never-married individuals
* Community or extra-familial support for urban migrants
* Economic dimensions of illness and long-term dependency
* Supervision and guidance for adolescents in an era of rapid social
change
* Redefining men's place in the family and the home
* Support for the aged and/or widowed
* Caregiving for family members with physical or mental disabilities
* Transplanted families (migrants) or families with absent members
* Implications of unemployment (retrenchment) and economic restructuring
for family support networks
Paper submissions
The program committee welcomes papers on these themes or other related topics. Authors wishing to have their work considered for inclusion in the program should submit abstracts of 500-1,000 words summarizing the paper's central research question, theoretical framework and methods employed. Paper abstracts plus a short curriculum vitae including the author's full contact details should be submitted to the organizing committee by November 15, 2003 to ensure full consideration.
Abstract submissions and other conference correspondence should be directed to:
Rachel M. Safman
Department of Sociology
National University of Singapore
AS1, 11 Arts Link
Singapore 117570 SINGAPORE
FAX: (65) 6777-9579
e-mail: rsafman@nus.edu.sg
Authors whose papers are selected for presentation will be notified by post and electronic mail by December 1, 2003 and a complete draft of the papers to be presented will be requested by March 1, 2004.
Support for participation
The organizing committee is presently seeking grants to subsidize participants' airfare and accommodations. However, the availability of such funds is not yet confirmed. Participants are therefore strongly encouraged to seek other sources of support to enable their attendance at the conference.
Publication of Conference Proceedings
It is the organizers' intentions to facilitate the publication of papers presented at the conference through the coordination of dedicated special issues of relevant journals and perhaps an edited volume. The organizers' therefore request first rights of refusal to include papers accepted for presentation at the conference in one of these publications. Authors whose work cannot be included in these conference-related publications will be free to seek alternative venues for publication.