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- Wesolowski, Katharina
(author)
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Maybe Baby? : Reproductive Behaviour, Fertility Intentions, and Family Policies in Post-communist Countries, with a Special Focus on Ukraine
- 2015
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- This thesis studies different aspects of reproductive behaviour on the international, national, and local levels in post-communist countries. The main focus is Ukraine, where fertility rates are very low and the population is in severe decline. The studies contribute new knowledge about the applicability of a family policy typology developed on the basis of Western countries’ experience for post-communist countries, and about the influence of family policies on fertility levels in these countries. Moreover, the studies investigate whether and how macro-level influences impact on individuals’ reproductive behaviour. Four articles are included in the thesis:Family policies in Ukraine and Russia in comparative perspective analyses the institutional set-up of family policies in both countries and compares the findings to 31 other countries. The results show that Ukrainian family policies support a male-breadwinner type of family, while the benefit levels of Russian family policies are low, compelling families to rely on relatives or the childcare market.Family policies and fertility - Examining the link between family policy institutions and fertility rates in 33 countries 1995-2010 comparatively explores whether family policies have an effect on fertility rates across the case-countries. Pooled time-series regression analysis demonstrates that gender-egalitarian family policies are connected to higher fertility rates, but that this effect is smaller at higher rates of female labour force participation.To have or not to have a child? Perceived constraints on childbearing in a lowest-low fertility context investigates the influence of the perception of postmodern values, childcare availability and environmental pollution on individuals’ fertility intentions in a city in Eastern Ukraine. It is shown that women who already have a child perceive environmental pollution as a constraint on their fertility intentions.Prevalence and correlates of the use of contraceptive methods by women in Ukraine in 1999 and 2007 examines changes in the prevalence and the correlates of the use of contraceptive methods. The use of modern contraceptive methods increased during the period and the use of traditional methods decreased, while the overall prevalence did not change. Higher exposure to messages about family planning in the media is correlated with the use of modern contraceptive methods.
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| 2. |
- Svensson, Mikael, 1981-
(author)
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Hur klass gör skillnad : Klasspositionens betydelse för rasistiska och negativt särskiljande praktiker
- 2019
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Previous research concludes that working-class people in general exhibit more negative attitudes towards people with immigrant backgrounds than people in more privileged class positions. However, whilst primarily drawing on quantitative methods, these studies fail to explain how class comes to matter, and even less is known about tangible everyday practices. The thesis examines how class positions affect racist and negatively distinctive practices against persons of immigrant background. The aim is to explore (i) class differences with regard to which negative distinctive practices mainly occur in relation to different class positions and (ii) to identify generative mechanisms of importance to the practitioners, with particular attention to class-specific contexts, such as the workplace, the labor market and housing.This class-comparative study draws on data from twenty qualitative interviews: ten interviews with people in working class positions, living in a working class area; ten interviews with people in more privileged class positions, living in a socio-economically more privileged area. In addition, participant observations were conducted in the two residential areas. The sampling relies on a combination of Marxian and Weberian class criteria, in which conditions of production, occupation and income have been the main criteria for constructing the two different groups. To enable comparisons, eight categories of practice were constructed on the basis of theoretical and empirical arguments.The result shows that categories of practice vary between class positions; e.g. exploiting and corrective practices are characteristic for those in more privileged class positions, while excluding and avoidance practices are more common among those in working class positions. The study also shows that the causes of these practices can vary depending on the class position of the practitioner. The class structure is a mechanism in itself and has different effects on people in different class positions. Perceived class interests in relation to workers of ‘immigrant background’ and the degree of authority in the workplace are both examples of this. Moreover, several other mechanisms are identified, negative notions of persons of immigrant background underpinned by imagined and actual norm circles, exclusion mechanisms linked to profession and language and the pursuit of class and upward status mobility in hierarchically racialized labor and housing markets.
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