Conclusion

Abstract

The instability that neoliberal capitalism has sewn into the social fabric reaches across social classes, but its most incendiary effects reach deep into the communities, families, and relationships of lower income populations. Fragile fathers are caught in a web of contradictions shaped by the processes of racial and class marginalization. In this concluding chapter, the authors summarize these contradictions. Drawing on policy researchers, they also outline a broad scope of public policies that would be needed to address the adverse conditions for parenting on the social and economic margins. However, in the end, they argue for a movements-based political solution that draws on the theories and ideas of second- and third-generation feminists.