Doing family while poor: agentic hopelessness as lived knowledge

Dana Kaplan, Gal Levy, Helly Buzhish-Sasson, Avigail Biton, Riki Kohan-Benlulu

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

What does ‘doing family while poor’ teach us about agency, resilience and care under COVID-19? Set against a dual backdrop of increasing economic hardships and expanding inequalities, and in light of a shifting perspective in poverty and family studies, we employ David Morgan’s family practices approach to study the lived realities of family life through the perspective of everyday relationships. Our research, led by a team comprised of academics and activists who themselves endure poverty, is set to allow people experiencing poverty to document their everyday lives. In their journals we identify a form of social awareness to the politics of poverty, which consist of negative emotions emanating from one’s daily struggles against the harsh reality of inequality, yet do not lead to paralysis and inaction. We dub this state agentic hopelessness.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)208-226
Number of pages19
JournalFamilies, Relationships and Societies
Volume11
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was supported by the Open University Research Authority under grant #511591.

Publisher Copyright:
© Policy Press 2022.

Keywords

  • Israel
  • families
  • family practices
  • poverty
  • self-documentation

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