The gendered division of labour within families with a minimalist lifestyle

Minimalism has been popularized as a sustainable lifestyle to simplify daily life and free up resources such as time and money for families. We still however know little about how minimalist practices intersect with gender relations in everyday family life and the on-going negotiation of traditionally gendered household labour. This paper therefore addresses the question: To what extent do minimalist lifestyles challenge and/or reproduce gendered divisions of labour within families? To answer this question, the paper draws on qualitative interviews with 21 women, three men, and six couples who engage with minimalist practices in their everyday family life.

The analysis shows how the women tended to initiate the minimalist project with the explicit intention to achieve a more manageable, sustainable, everyday life. However, although many intended for minimalism to be a family project, they themselves frequently assumed the main responsibility for decluttering, organizing, and reducing household consumption, especially in relation to children. Men, meanwhile, were more often positioned as taking on a supportive role and were less engaged or involved in the daily work of maintaining minimalism.The study thus highlights how minimalism can both challenge and reproduce a traditional gendered division of labour within families which strive to achieve a minimalist lifestyle.

 

About the lecturers

Jenny Alsarve and Helen Peterson, University of Örebro

Jenny Alsarve is Associate Professor of Sociology whose research focuses on family, work, care and gender, with particular attention to how parents reconcile paid work and family life. Her work explores the intersection of work and family through studies of post divorce family practices, the transition to parenthood among heterosexual couples, and lone mothers’ everyday lives.

Helen Peterson is Professor of Sociology at Örebro University. Her research centers on gendered organizations, organizational change, leadership, career paths and institutional resistance, particularly within higher education. She has led and contributed to several national and international projects on gender equality, academic leadership, and research funding. Her work also addresses the intersection of work and family life, as well as voluntary childlessness, motherhood norms and pronatalism.

Together, Alsarve and Peterson collaborate on the FORMAS funded project Sustainable Practices in the Minimalist Family. The project examines what it means to live a minimalist lifestyle as a family, exploring everyday opportunities and challenges, motivations for minimalism, and its implications for family relations and environmental sustainability.

Sociology@MaU

Sociology@MaU is a seminar series that highlights sociological perspectives in research at, and beyond, Malmö University. Sociology@MaU brings together researchers and practitioners to discuss contemporary issues and spark interdisciplinary dialogue incorporating sociological perspectives. The aim is to encourage intellectual exchange about theories, methods and empirical fields, thus providing fertile ground for ideas about new – more just – ways of organising society. The seminars are open to all.

Sociology

In sociology, the human is studied in society. The social interaction between individuals and groups, societal structures and...

Contact