‘We also need to exist somehow’ – families negotiating everyday ethics during Covid-19 in Denmark

TY - JOUR

T1 - ‘We also need to exist somehow’ – families negotiating everyday ethics during Covid-19 in Denmark

AU - Dannesboe, Karen Ida

AU - Jørgensen, Nanna Jordt

AU - Clemensen, Nana

AU - Winther, Ida Wentzel

AU - Kousholt, Dorte

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - In this article, we explore everyday ethical concerns associated with the Covid-19 lockdowns of Danish society as experienced by members of Danish middle-class families with one or more children living at home. Combining family theory with anthropological perspectives on ethics and morality, we discuss the pandemic’s ethical implications with a focus on how family obligations and shared family practices are accentuated and altered during a societal crisis and on how families navigate moral dilemmas of balancing family needs and norms with being a good citizen adapting to public guidelines and restrictions. The moral quandaries described by our informants suggest that moral and ethical expectations intersect and sometimes collide in the face of societal crisis, accentuating the different roles and responsibilities ascribed to us respectively as citizens and kin. Hence, periods of crisis bring attention to the interplay between societal histories, family morals and everyday family practices.

AB - In this article, we explore everyday ethical concerns associated with the Covid-19 lockdowns of Danish society as experienced by members of Danish middle-class families with one or more children living at home. Combining family theory with anthropological perspectives on ethics and morality, we discuss the pandemic’s ethical implications with a focus on how family obligations and shared family practices are accentuated and altered during a societal crisis and on how families navigate moral dilemmas of balancing family needs and norms with being a good citizen adapting to public guidelines and restrictions. The moral quandaries described by our informants suggest that moral and ethical expectations intersect and sometimes collide in the face of societal crisis, accentuating the different roles and responsibilities ascribed to us respectively as citizens and kin. Hence, periods of crisis bring attention to the interplay between societal histories, family morals and everyday family practices.

KW - Morality

KW - family practices

KW - everyday life

KW - lockdown

KW - Covid-19

KW - ethics

KW - Samfund/samtid

KW - Familie og opdragelse

KW - Hverdagsliv

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85146224229&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1080/13229400.2022.2164207

DO - 10.1080/13229400.2022.2164207

M3 - Journal article

SN - 1839-3543

VL - 29

SP - 2294

EP - 2313

JO - Journal of Family Studies

JF - Journal of Family Studies

IS - 5

ER -