Governing Families

This engaging study shows the usefulness of widening the conception of governing to include a broad range of mechanisms, agencies and knowledges. In rich case studies, Edwards and Ugwudike trace how macro and micro technologies categorize, normalize and stigmatize groups of people, often mothers and working-class and ethnic minority families, as problematic. They effectively demonstrate the need to consider the convergence of social welfare and criminal justice policies as governing practices, highlighting the expanding role of AI and data-driven technologies. Professor Emerita Carol Bacchi, Department of Politics and International Relations, The University of Adelaide, Australia Edwards and Ugwudike pull together the threads of neoliberal politics, the governance of families, biology and 'brain science', and the rise of new technologies of prediction and categorisation, explaining how they are woven together in an innovative and insightful manner. Full of pithy insights, their careful analysis of the marrying of morality and technologies, particularly in the areas of criminal justice and child protection is innovative and wide-ranging. The tendency of governments to lay the blame for complex social problems at the feet of individuals and families, and the increasing use of predictive technologies to surveil and sanction families in the interests of 'entrepreneurial resilience', is thoroughly interrogated in this fascinating and frightening analysis. Dr Emily Keddell, Te Whare Wananga o Otago, University of Otago, New Zealand Combining criminological and sociological perspectives, and fusing Bourdiuesian and Foucauldian scholarship, Edwards and Ugwudike provide a compelling critical interrogation of changes and continuities in modes of family governance over the long duree. They highlight the convergence of the welfare state and criminal justice system in the contemporary period. This book will certainly be of use in teaching and research. Dr Stephen Crossley, Durham University, UK