Comparing three generations of fathers in Poland and Germany. Continuity and change in the practices of fatherhood.

• Applicants: Dr. Anna Buschmeyer; Dr. Claudia Zerle-Elsässer
• Subject Area: Empirical Social Research
• Term: since 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 528683599

How do current fatherhood concepts and practices in Germany and Poland differ and where do they resemble each other? How and under what conditions do they change from one generation to the other? What remains the same and how are they transmitted to the next generation? The planned project addresses these questions by means of interviews with several generations of fathers in Germany and Poland. Starting point is the observation that in both countries the concept of "active fatherhood" is now considered a desirable social norm, even though practices do not always reflect this. Recent literature describes individual, partnership-related, company or labor market and socio-political conditions as the cause of this lack of fit between ideal and reality. A current strand of research, although so far widely neglected in Germany and Poland, concentrates on concrete mechanisms of social learning (model vs. compensation hypothesis) by focusing on the relationship of a man to his own father. Our project will thus examine which norms and practices we see in current fatherhood, but also if and how they did change historically and culturally in comparison of three generations and two countries. One important focus will be on how the relationship to one's own father, but also external circumstances, influence this. We choose a comparison between Germany and Poland because these neighboring countries take into account the same EU regulations, but differ in their respective cultural and historical-political imprint. For example, the integration of women into the labor market, which was promoted by socialism, resulted in a more egalitarian participation of parents in the labor market in Poland, while the still strongly patriarchal family ideas of the Catholic Church and the (lack of) socio-political measures have a familialising effect. In Germany, socio-politics promoted a change towards a more egalitarian division of tasks in the last twenty years. At the same time, despite the expansion of childcare, the model of the full-time working father and the part-time working mother dominates. These factors shape concepts and practices of fatherhood. In order to be able to work out the questions about the differences in the concepts and practices of fatherhood in Germany and Poland as well as intra-family transmission processes, great-grandfathers, their sons and their grandsons (already fathers) from the two countries will be interviewed in narrative interviews, with photo stimuli and family mappings on the topic of their own and experienced fatherhood. A total of about 30 (grand)fathers from ten families will be interviewed in each country. The sample in both countries should represent western and eastern regions and, as far as possible, the social diversity of fathers. The aim of our research is to identify breaks between concepts and practices in order to contribute to a discussion about continuity and change in fatherhood over the course of generations.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Poland
• Partner Organisation: Narodowe Centrum Nauki (NCN)
• Cooperation Partners: Dr. Ewa Banaszak; Dr. Agnieszka Bielewska