Families in a Changing Europe: Challenges, Conflicts and Interventions

Since the late 1980’s, the cultural, socio-economic and political landscape of European societies have altered considerably. Many of these changes may have profound implications for the institution of the family, the internal dynamics of family relations and for policy intervention. Demographic changes, along with the current economic crisis and increased migration, raise new questions about relatedness and the balance between family obligations and those of the welfare state. New forms of gender relations, new reproductive technologies and a larger variety in family formations challenge traditional views about what a family is and should be. Different family norms and practices due to greater ethnic and cultural variation give rise to legal problems as well as negotiations of values and belonging. These changes have led to new research interests concerning family practices, family policy, relatedness, family crisis and intervention which the Congress seeks to approach from a wide range of thematic domains in psychology, sociology, anthropology, political science, legal studies and history.