This paper brings together conceptualizations of contradictory concerns in care for children in everyday family life (Kousholt, 2011, 2019) and discuss “shared care” between parents and professionals (Haavind & Andenæs, 2018) with the conceptual framework of inter-related caring domains (cf. symposium introduction). Since the global Covid pandemic, war in Ukraine, and economic recession in Europe - combined with climate changes - crisis no longer seem to be a temporary condition for families, but a more chronic situation. Radical societal changes and abruptions change the conditions for family life and care and make visible the intrinsic relation between everyday family practices and societal and political conditions. Parents must now not only take care of their children and strive to ensure that they can do well in relation to for example, the school system, but also take care of them in an unpredictable world and prepare them to deal with an uncertain future. Anthropological studies in precarious areas find that living with crisis and uncertainty holds the possibility of producing despair, powerlessness, anxiety - but also hope and new ways of living (Calkins 2016). How do environmental and societal crisis influence, (de)stabilize and perhaps transform how parents perceive of issues of care in everyday family life? How do parents experience conflicts and dilemmas between different care domains and demands in and across children’s life contexts? How do they perceive of their own role and resources for supporting and taking part in green transition together with their children?
Dorte Kousholt (Mon,) studied this question.