On Civilising:

Going above and beyond? How parent–daycare mobile communication reconfigures the time and space dimensions of parenting

“…However, in Aula's case, parents’ narratives focus more on fostering closeness and promoting a social environment where children can express themselves and listen to others. These practices align with what Danish educational anthropologists find in their research on daycare institutions more generally, where children's verbal self-expression is seen as a prerequisite for a harmonious and functional society (Gilliam & Gulløv, 2017).…”

“…The welfare state and its civilizing ideals thus permeate the family sphere through mobile media communication apps in new ways. A good example is how the extension of co-presence described above aligns parents’ practices with the state ideal of raising children who are civil, social, and can express themselves through language from a young age (Gilliam & Gulløv, 2017). Previous studies have shown that digital technologies such as monitoring devices provide reassurance to parents about their children's safety (Lim, 2019; Lupton, 2020).…”

“…At first glance, the welfare state principles of universal childcare and state involvement in child-rearing may appear contradictory to the idea of intensive parenting, often associated with the privatization and individualization of child-rearing responsibilities within the nuclear family (Faircloth, 2021). However, multiple studies confirm that intensive parenting is actually a prevalent cultural norm among Danish parents (Dannesboe et al, 2018; Gilliam, 2022; Gilliam & Gulløv, 2017). Therefore, it is likely that the dissemination of this norm in Denmark does not imply a withdrawal of the state, but rather a stronger expectation for parents and public institutions to collaborate to ensure children's effective socialization (Akselvoll, 2022; Gilliam, 2022).…”

“…Nowadays, nearly universal out-of-family care is deemed essential for parents to maintain their participation in the labor market while simultaneously facilitating the child’s development and socialization. Indeed, daycare institutions have become the appropriate setting for children to spend their weekdays, even for infants and toddlers, increasing state involvement in the raising of children (Gilliam & Gulløv, 2017). Crucial here is the daycare centers’ role in “civilizing the youngest” (Gilliam & Gulløv, 2017, p.54) by encouraging children to express their views and show consideration towards others since these skills are construed as essential for a harmonious and functional community.…”

Making the invisible visible? Everyday lived experiences of ‘seeing’ and categorizing children’s well-being within a Danish kindergarten

“…While Koch translates well-being to happiness, she nevertheless shows how the pedagogues’ seeing of happiness is related to their ideals of the attuned child, that is, to ideas of how children are supposed to behave in particular culturally constructed contexts. That children’s institutions in this way always reflect specific logics and civilizing ideals regarding how children should conduct themselves, and that these ideals influence how children are perceived and classified by the professionals around them, is also a point brought forward by the anthropologists Gilliam and Gulløv (2017) in their book Children of the Welfare State . Here, they note how, within recent years, children have moved into the centre of political concern and that the Danish state has intensified its civilizing efforts towards bringing up ‘citizens of the right mould’ (Gilliam and Gulløv, 2017: 2) – a development, I suggest, that is reflected in the well-being assessment tool with its ambition towards ‘detecting’ children who are not faring well.…”