COVID-19 is impacting on all aspects of family life and personal relationships, as well as on our formal and informal systems of social care. How are we ‘doing’ family life and practicing intimacies during lockdown? What are the consequence on our intergenerational relations – with the youngest and oldest – and how are we protecting those most vulnerable? And what effect has physical distancing had on our connections to strangers, to community life, to civil society and the environment around us?
As we all navigate the early days of the pandemic, the Centre for Research on Families and Relationships welcomes blog submissions issues from academics and practitioners working within the field of families and relationships. How has the pandemic affected your families, relationships, the community in which you live and work? What are the challenges you have faced so far, and what are your expectations – good and bad – for the future?
Submissions can include, but are not limited to, topics such as caring and intimacy, intergenerational relationships, bodies and emotions, social connections, loneliness, work-life balance, inequality & exclusion, and the environment, as well as reflections on the long-term effects of the coronavirus on service delivery, funding and practice. We are also keen to learn more about how COVID-19 and the prospect of long-term physical distancing is re-shaping the design and delivery of research fieldwork and writing projects.
Covid 19 caused the cancellation of CRFR’s international conference Intersectionality, Families Relationships (https://crfr-conference2020.sps.ed.ac.uk/) and we are especially keen for the delegates who had planned to visit Edinburgh in June to make a submission – how has Covid-19 impacted on your research project and participants?
We welcome reflections on personal experience as well as our more usual style of pieces informed by research or professional practice. You may also submit diaries, photos or other creative pieces. Your contributions should be between 600-1,500 words and should be submitted in Word format to Helen Walker (helen.walker@ed.ac.uk). For referencing, the use of hyperlinks (instead of footnotes) is preferred, where possible. Please include the author’s full name, current institution and occupation in a short bio at the end of the document. The contributions will be reviewed by CRFR co-directors and we aim to get back to you with decisions within a fortnight of submission.
Amy Chandler, Emma Davidson, Jenni Harden and Lynn Jamieson