Fragmenting Fatherhood: A Socio-Legal Study

by Richard Collier, Sally Sheldon

Overview

Discussion of the legal status, responsibilities, and rights of men who are fathers - whether they are married or unmarried, cohabiting or separated, biological or 'social' in nature - has a long history. In recent years, however, western societies have witnessed a heightening of concern about whether families need fathers and, if so, what kinds of fathers these should be. A debate about the future of fatherhood has become central to a range of conversations about the changing family, parenting, and society. Law has served an important role in these discussions, serving as a focal point for broader political frustrations, playing a central role in mediating disputes, and operating as a significant symbolic 'authorized discourse' which provides an official, state-sanctioned account of the scope of paternal rights and responsibilities. Fragmenting Fatherhood provides the first sustained engagement with the way that fatherhood has been understood, constructed, and regulated within English law. Drawing on a range of disparate legal provisions, and material from diverse disciplines, the book sketches the major contours of the figure of the father as drawn in law and social policy, tracing shifts in legal and broader understandings of what it means to be a 'father' and what rights and obligations should accrue to that status. In thematically-linked chapters cutting across substantive areas of law, the book locates fatherhood as a key site of contestation within broader political debates regarding the family and gender equality. Fragmenting Fatherhood provides an important and unique resource and speaks to debates about fatherhood across many fields including law and legal theory, sociology, gender studies, social policy, marriage and family, and women's studies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781841134178
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	09/01/2008
Pages:	324
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Richard Collier is Professor of Law at the University of Newcastle.
Sally Sheldon is a Professor of Law at the University of Kent.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments v

1 Introducing Fatherhood and Law 1

Introduction 1

'Fragmenting Fatherhood' 3

The Structure of the Argument 7

Contexts of Change: New Families, New Fatherhood? 10

Researching Fatherhood, New Questions for Law 15

Family Law, Family Policy and Fatherhood 20

Law, Families, Fatherhood: Conceptual Questions 23

Conclusion 35

2 Fatherhood and 'Natural' Reproduction 37

Introduction 37

Preventing Fatherhood: Contraception and Abortion 39

Reproductive Agency, Antenatal Responsibility and Foetal Welfare 49

Fathers, Pregnancy and Childbirth 59

Conclusion 64

3 Fatherhood and Assisted Reproduction 69

Introduction 69

Child Welfare and the Need for a Father 72

Diane Blood, Deceased Fathers and the Privileging of Widows 78

The Status Provisions 80

Surrogacy 89

Donor Insemination and Anonymity 92

Rights in Stored Embryos 95

Conclusion 97

4 Marital Fatherhood 101

Introduction 101

(Re)Constructing the 'Family Man' as Breadwinner: From Rights to Responsibility 103

Making the 'Father Figure'?: Reconstructing Responsible Fatherhood 114

Gender Equality, Gendered Lives: The Limits of the 'New Fatherhood'? 126

Concluding Remarks: Policy, Practice and the Contradictions of the New Fatherhood 132

5 Post-Separation Fatherhood 139

Introduction 139

A Context: The Changing Nature of Post-separation Parenting 141

A History: Divorce Law, the 'New Consensus' and the Remaking of Post-separation Fatherhood 145

Law, Contact and the 'Responsible' Post-separation Father 155

Reassessing the Politics of Post-separation Fatherhood: Questions of Conflict, Emotion and Gender 163

Conclusion 170

6Unmarried Fatherhood 175

Introduction 175

Unmarried Fatherhood and Cohabitation 178

The Law of Illegitimacy 180

Contemporary Legal Treatment of Unmarried Fathers 184

Conclusion 200

7 Fragmenting Fatherhood 205

Introduction 205

Beyond the 'New Fatherhood' 209

Fatherhood, Masculinities and the 'Problem of Men' 213

Equality, Gender Convergence and 'Geneticisation' 222

Fatherhood and Law: Theoretical Issues 226

Conclusion: Fragmentation, Tension and Contradiction 234

Bibliography 239

Editorial Reviews

"...a remarkable read: heavy on ideas, light on jargon, and covering the entire range of the daddy debate." --Times Online - Alpha Mummy

"...their approach is interdisciplinary, drawing from sociology, politics, psychology, history and social policy in an impressive and erudite engagement with a subject of great interest and controversy...a range of ideas has emerged about the importance of social responsibility on the part of parents. The law sets out normative expectations about how they should be discharged. These ideas are also evident across social policy, and it is a strength of the authors' interdisciplinary emphasis that they capture this with their analysis of new Labour's policies across a range of domains (for example, they note the focus in services such as Sure Start on engaging fathers)...The authors have combined their considerable intellectual expertise to produce a comprehensive book that will be of great value to scholars in a range of disciplines. They deal thoughtfully with a subject that arouses anxiety and controversy and where the research evidence is hotly contested." --Times Higher Education

"The style is academic, but worded for the concerned reader. The book is recommended reading for trustees of societies and charities concerned with the effects of family breakdown and parent-child relationships." --McKenzie Magazine Issue 82

"...superb analysis of the changing conventions surrounding fatherhood...in using material from across academic disciplines and with reference to important contemporary debates that are playing out through policy developments and media discussions, the book should gain much wider appeal." --Spiked Review of Books Issue No 21

"Richard Collier and Sally Sheldon... are to be congratulated.
... the main chapters contain many useful, thought-provoking ideas to illuminate the authors' central thesis of the rapidly evolving social institutions of modern fatherhood and its implications for family law." --Journal of Law and Society Volume 36 No. 3

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