Third ISA Forum of Sociology (July 10-14, 2016)

233

Changing Care Diamonds in Europe and Asia: Is Europe Becoming Asia?

RC19 Sociology of Poverty, Social Welfare and Social Policy (host committee)

Language: English

This session compares changing childcare and elderly care in Europe and Asia, employing the framework of care diamond that examines the roles of state, market, family and community, and bridging the fields of family sociology, social policy and gender studies. In contrast to European countries that developed welfare states and created systems of public provision of care in the 20th century, Asian countries have been far behind, remaining in a regime relying on family and market, which has been called liberal familialism. 
However, due to rapid changes on both sides in the first decade of the 21st century, a new landscape is emerging. For example, in Japan and South Korea socialisation of care has been somewhat achieved under long-term care insurance, while in Europe welfare retrenchment has prompted the coming back of community and extended kin, as well as commodification of care including the employment of migrant care workers.
We are inclined to ask if Europe is becoming Asia and if Asia is approaching Europe. At the same time, we should pay attention to the diversity within each region. For example, the legacy of socialism seems to have different effects in the two regions. The goal of the session is to produce common views about adequate combinations of the four sectors for a sustainable human future through the collaboration of researchers from various parts of the world. Posters: