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Palgrave Macmillan

Reconfiguring Relations in the Empty Nest

Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay

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  • © 2024

Overview

Editors:
  1. Magdalena Żadkowska

    1. Social Sciences Department (Institute of Sociology), University of Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland

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  2. Marta Skowrońska

    1. Faculty of Sociology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland

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  3. Christophe Giraud

    1. Centre de recherche sur les liens sociaux (CERLIS, UMR 8070), Université Paris Cité, Paris, France

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  4. Filip Schmidt

    1. Faculty of Sociology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland

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  • Focuses on both the roles of being a parent and being a spouse in the empty nest
  • Illustrates how families experiencing this lifecourse transition are influenced by political and cultural context
  • Features data from eight waves of qualitative studies including more than 250 in-depth interviews

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Table of contents (14 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xvii
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  2. Introduction: The Empty Nest in Poland and in France

    • Magdalena Żadkowska, Christophe Giraud, Marta Skowrońska, Filip Schmidt
    Pages 1-25

  3. The Value of “Empty Nest Syndrome” in Sociology

    • François de Singly
    Pages 27-36

  4. The Family in ‘The Empty Nest’

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 37-37
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    2. Reconfiguration of the Mother’s Role After the Departure of the Children

      • Magdalena Herzberg-Kurasz, Christophe Giraud, Magdalena Anita Gajewska, Sophie David–Goretta, François de Singly
      Pages 39-64

    3. The Empty Nest as a Phase of Fatherhood

      • Christophe Giraud, Radosław Kossakowski, Magdalena Żadkowska, Bogna Dowgiałło
      Pages 65-89

    4. Adult Children’s Bedrooms and the Emptying Nest: Mechanisms of Transition

      • Marta Skowrońska, Filip Schmidt, Emmanuelle Maunaye, Marianna Kostecka, Cyrano Andre–Vieille
      Pages 91-114

    5. Adult Children’s Visits to Their Parents: Recomposition and Renegotiation of Family Roles and Responsibilities

      • Marta Skowrońska, Emmanuelle Maunaye, Dorota Rancew-Sikora, Cyrano Andre–Vieille
      Pages 115-139

    6. Return to the ‘Full Nest’—Re-Cohabitation in Times of the Pandemic in France and Poland

      • Sandra Gaviria, Magdalena Herzberg-Kurasz, Magdalena Ż adkowska
      Pages 141-158

    7. Animals in the Empty Nest: Recomposition of Family Roles

      • Magdalena Anita Gajewska, François de Singly, Magdalena Żadkowska, Christophe Giraud, Marianna Kostecka, Sophie David–Goretta
      Pages 159-177

  5. The Couple in ‘The Empty Nest’

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 179-179
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    2. Redefining a Couple’s Relationship in the Empty Nest: The New Honeymoon

      • Filip Schmidt, Marta Skowrońska, Magdalena Żadkowska, Christophe Giraud
      Pages 181-208

    3. Redefining a Couple’s Relationship in the Empty Nest: Together Apart

      • Marta Skowrońska, Filip Schmidt, Christophe Giraud, Magdalena Żadkowska
      Pages 209-238

    4. Recoupling Transitions in the Empty Nest: Women’s Perspective

      • Magdalena Żadkowska, Christophe Giraud
      Pages 239-261

  6. The Self in ‘The Empty Nest’

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 263-263
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    2. Without Children at Home: Transition to Herplaces and Hisplaces

      • Marianna Kostecka, Magdalena Żadkowska, Bogna Dowgiałło, Sophie David–Goretta
      Pages 265-289

    3. Navigating Emotional Terrain: Women’s Experiences of Loss and Gain

      • Bogna Dowgiałło, Christophe Giraud, Magdalena Herzberg-Kurasz
      Pages 291-308

    4. Struggling with Limitations, Creating New Possibilities: Perspective of Men Experiencing the Empty Nest

      • Radosław Kossakowski, Natasza Kosakowska-Berezecka, Sophie David–Goretta
      Pages 309-325

  7. Back Matter

    Pages 327-340
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Keywords

About this book

This edited volume traverses the spectrum of experiences that take place after children leave the family home and parents find themselves in the "empty nest" stage of life. Rather than focusing on measuring the intensity of empty nest syndrome or asking whether parents' marital satisfaction increases or decreases in this phase, the authors present rich qualitative data from across Poland and France to show that there is great variation in how families experience the empty nest, developing both a study on intimacy and love and on family solidarity. Throughout the book, themes of mixed emotions, nuanced attitudes, contradictions, and dissonance are explored while shedding light on "supporting actors" of the empty nest transition, such as family pets and material objects. 

Editors and Affiliations

  • Social Sciences Department (Institute of Sociology), University of Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland

    Magdalena Żadkowska

  • Faculty of Sociology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland

    Marta Skowrońska, Filip Schmidt

  • Centre de recherche sur les liens sociaux (CERLIS, UMR 8070), Université Paris Cité, Paris, France

    Christophe Giraud

About the editors

Magdalena Żadkowska is Assistant Professor in the Division of Sociology of Everyday Life in the Faculty of Social Sciences at University of Gdańsk, Poland. 

Marta Skowrońska is Assistant Professor at the Division of Social Practice Research and Theory in the Faculty of Sociology at Adam Mickiewicz University, Poland. 

Christophe Giraud is Professor of Sociology at Université Paris Cité, France. 

Filip Schmidt is Assistant Professor in the Division of Social Practice Research and Theory at the Faculty of Sociology at Adam Mickiewicz University, Poland. ctice Research and Theory at the Faculty of Sociology at Adam Mickiewicz University, Poland. 

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