Care, Gender and Ethnicity in Multicultural Societies: The Case of British Women with Pakistani Background

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24520928
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Cultural anthropology/Folklore
• Research Institution: Kyoto Women's University
• Principal Investigator: KUDO Masako 京都女子大学, 現代社会学部, 准教授 (80447458)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: ケア / ジェンダー / エスニシティ / 高齢者介護 / パキスタン / イギリス / ムスリム / 多文化社会

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The study explores how ethnicity and gender intersect in the practices of elderly care in multicultural contexts by examining the Pakistani community in the UK. The research reveals that there is change and continuity in their perceptions and practices of caring for the elderly. The women tend to consider their caring role as primary. At the same time, because of the increase in the number of women participating in the labor market, support from statutory services as well as paid care and unpaid care are becoming an indispensable part of family care. As a result, a new pattern of care is emerging, indicating a complex interplay between gender, ethnicity and class. While ethnic boundaries can be maintained or strengthened in such processes, the women also mobilize their resources and services outside their kin group and their ethnic community in performing their caring roles, which creates a new dynamic of social relationships between ethnic groups within multicultural society.

Free Research Field

文化人類学