Different methods – lasting tensions: exploring familial pragmatism through a methodological lens

Abstract

Different methods -lasting tensions: exploring familial pragmatism through a methodological lensThe concept of familial pragmatism (Pustułka & Sikorska, 2023) was the main focus of the introductory remarks to the first part of our double-volume Special Issue (SI) on The privacy and politicisation of parenting in Europe: family as a set of practices and as an object of external influence. We argued that familial pragmatism works as an orienteering concept that makes it possible to highlight the practicalities of what people -at an individual (micro) level do in the face of the public/political sphere invading their private lives. The second volume not only underscores the suitability of a pragmatic approach with regard to the content of the second batch of four SI papers but also offers some methodological insights about the private/public dilemmas, alongside discussing solutions that have helped the authors/contributors to the SIilluminate new aspects or sites of private/public tensions in family lives. In essence, we argue that -regardless of the methods used -the tensions between private and public realms persist. Just like individuals, social researchers also pragmatically and reflexively navigate the methodological landscape in their efforts to understand the private/public dilemma.