Connecting families?: information & communication technologies, generations and the life course

Abstract

Taking a lifecourse and generational perspective, this collection examines topics such as work-life balance, transnational families, digital storytelling and mobile parenting. It offers tools that allow for an informed and critical understanding of ICTs and family dynamics. Intro; CONNECTING FAMILIES?; Contents; List of figures and tables; Figures; Tables; Notes on contributors; Acknowledgements; Foreword. The family has become a network; Composition; Connectivity; Networked households; 1. Connecting families? An introduction; Context; Conceptualizing family, generations, ICTs, and the life course; Aims of the collection; Overview of the book; Part 1. Theoretical and methodological approaches; 2. Theoretical perspectives on technology and society: implications for understanding the relationship between ICTs and family life; Introduction Theoretical perspectives on technology and societyImplications for research on ICTs and family life; Conclusion; 3. Recursive approaches to technology adoption, families, and the life course: actor network theory and strong structuration theory; Introduction; Recursive approaches; Conclusion; 4. Weaving family connections on- and offline: the turn to networked individualism; Introduction; The turn to networked individualism; How ICTs connect older adults with their families; Conclusions; 5. Oversharing in the time of selfies: an aesthetics of disappearance?; Introduction Virilio's aesthetic of disappearanceOversharing and social media; Snapchat and oversharing; Oversharing: an aesthetics of disappearance?; 6. The application of digital methods in a life course approach to family studies; Introduction; Alignments between digital methods and the life course approach; Considerations for the use of digital methods; 7. Cross-disciplinary research methods to study technology use, family, and life course dynamics: lessons from an action research project on social isolation and loneliness in later life; Introduction Combining methods: computer science and sociological approachesLessons learned; Challenges and opportunities for technology, families and life course studies; 8. From object to instrument: technologies as tools for family relations and family research; Introduction; Technologies as an object of family research; Virtues and/or risks of ICT usage in family life; Technologies as tools for family research within the life course perspective; Conclusion; Part 2. Empirical approaches 9. Use of communication technology to maintain intergenerational contact: toward an understanding of 'digital solidarity'Introduction; The role of digital solidarity in the study of intergenerational solidarity; Explaining older mothers' use of CT with their adult children; Methods; Results; Discussion; 10. Careful families and care as 'kinwork': an intergenerational study of families and digital media use in Melbourne, Australia; Introduction; Digital kinship: an intergenerational perspective on uses of digital media; Digital media as 'friendly' surveillance and kinwork at a distance