Parenting debates at the Battle of Ideas

The Battle of Ideas 2008 will be a two-day festival of high-level, thought-provoking debate organised by the Institute of Ideas and hosted by the Royal College of Art.

The ‘Battle for the Family’ strand on Saturday 1 November contains three important debates.

10.30-12.00: Professionalising parenting

Parents, apparently, are a bunch of amateurs. No wonder all the youth of today are binge-drinking, obese, antisocial yobs. What is needed, we are told, is constant monitoring of parents, and learning and development support where necessary. How did parenting become the big idea in the 21st century, and why have so many social concerns come to be understood through the prism of parenting?

Speakers

Zoe Williams - columnist, the Guardian; particular interest in feminism; and babies. 
Christina Hardyment - writer and historian with special interest in family and domestic matters; author Dream Babies: Babycare Advice from John Locke to Gina Ford
Dr Ellie Lee - lecturer in social policy, University of Kent; co-ordinator of Pro-Choice Forum
Nancy McDermott - journalist; member of the New York Salon; chair Advisory Board of Park Slope Parents, second largest parenting group in the USA
Chair: Jane Sandeman - convenor of the Institute of Ideas Parents Forum

13.30 - 15.00: The problem with families

The ‘problem of the family’ has long been a pet subject of social commentators. In the past, critics worried about the threats posed by single parenthood, homosexuality and permissiveness. But with the rise of therapy culture and the mainstreaming of the view that your parents ‘f*** you up’, the policy focus has shifted from a concern about a few ‘problem families’ to the assumption that all families are essentially problematic. What can we expect for the future of the family, when its very existence gives policymakers sleepless nights?

Speakers

Jennie Bristow - writer on parenting issues and intergenerational relations; author Guide to Subversive Parenting; columnist, spiked; editor, Parents With Attitude.com
Yvonne Roberts - senior associate, The Young Foundation; writer and broadcaster
Erin Riley - executive producer, documentaries, BBC Radio; created and produced Bringing Up Britain (presented by Mariella Frostrup); series 1 was broadcast March 2008; series 2 begins New Year 2009.
Jennifer Howze - lifestyle editor, Times Online; manages and blogs on Alpha Mummy.
Chair: Sally Millard - founder member, Institute of Ideas Parents Forum; opinionated mother of two.

15.30 - 17.00: Is ‘poor parenting’ a class issue?

Whereas the welfare state attempted to counter the problems facing low-income families through financial assistance, the therapeutic state pursues these families with a relentless programme of emotional support and childrearing advice. From the war on junk food and youth binge drinking to the pressure exerted on parents by schools to improve their own literacy levels, recycling habits, and compliance with healthy lifestyles, the orthodoxy of ‘good parenting’ often seems to be a thinly-veiled attack on the way adults live their lives – often with a heavy dose of snobbery. Are a child’s life chances really determined more by parental behaviour than by family income? Is it right to use children as a conduit for attempting to change the behaviour of ‘hard-to-reach’ adults? What makes a ‘poor parent’ anyway?

Speakers

Val Gillies - senior research fellow, ESRC Families and Social Capital Research Group, London South Bank University; author, Marginalised Mothers: Exploring Working Class Experiences of Parenting
Suzi Godson - columnist, Body and Soul, The Times; writer on sex, relationships and the family; author, The Body Bible: Every woman’s essential companion
Dr Jan Macvarish - researcher and lecturer in the sociology of family life and intimate relationships; author, Teenage Parents’ Experiences of Parenthood, What is ‘the Problem’ of Singleness?
Dr Dalia Ben-Galim - senior research fellow, Social Policy, Institute for Public Policy Research
Chair: Beverley Marshall - Institute of Ideas Parenting Forum; working mother (senior product manager, publishing; mother of three children under five).

See more information here.
Book tickets here.