Engaging siblingships

Abstract

Inspired by sociological and anthropological family studies, our point of departure is that there is neither a given nor an unequivocal prototype of sibling relationships. On the basis of qualitative interviews, dialogues and filmed observations of everyday life, we investigate how children and young people in contemporary Denmark engage emotionally in sibling relationships. It emerges that siblingships inevitably involve frictions in various forms. In the article, we analyse the impact frictions have on social relations and discuss how such dynamics in sibling relationships both reflect and influence family constitutions and dynamics.

The Materialisation of School in Families' Everyday Lives

“…The school, the family and home–school co‐operation are some of the circumstances that affect children's lives and, as I present in this article, they contribute to the actualisation of school in the family's everyday life. In this way, I align myself with studies of children's family lives that emphasise children's participation in and contribution to the family (Dannesboe, ; James and Curtis, ; Mason and Tipper, ; Notko and Sevón, ; Gulløv and others, ).…”

Enacting sabotage in siblings’ conflicts: Desired objects and deceptive bodies

“…Therefore, we call for a continued study of siblings’ everyday conflicts and of the sibling relationship, still largely an under-researched area (but see e.g. Gulløv, 2015; Palludan and Wentzel Winther, 2017; Wentzel-Winther et al, 2015).…”

‘Having my own room would be really cool’: Children’s rooms as the social and material organizing of siblings

“…Having said this, in situations of rupture, it is possible to identify siblings’ dreams of and claims to space, so these situations could also be considered potential battlefields for bedrooms and resources. However, our material suggests that children in ‘long’ and ‘wide’ siblingships utilize practices and strategies that we would term civilized (see also the chapter ‘Conflictual closeness’ by Mads M Rehder, in Winther et al, 2015) and the article ‘Engaging siblingships’ (Gulløv et al, 2014). Civilized practices and strategies can be viewed as an expression of children’s practical and strategic mastering of cultural complexity and the potential conflicts of interests that invariably surface in households with separate children.…”

“…By doing so, we hope to gain a valuable insight into the opportunities and strategies that children in ‘long’ and ‘wide’ siblingships use to take up space and gain sociomaterial weight. We aim to unfold the emotional aspects of siblingship elsewhere (see Winther et al, 2015, Siblings: Practical and Sensitive Relations and the article by Gulløv et al, 2014, ‘Engaging siblingships’).…”