Work and intimacy: reassessing the career/couple norm through a narrative case approach

Journal article


Potter, J. 2018. Work and intimacy: reassessing the career/couple norm through a narrative case approach. Sociological Research Online. https://doi.org/10.1177/1360780418792431
AuthorsPotter, J.
Abstract

It is argued that ‘career’, as linear progression through one industry or two, and ‘coupledom’, as hetero, cohabitive, and moving towards marriage, have both been undermined by alternate arrangements for work and intimacy. In the face of these changes, this article considers how the hallmarks of coupling and the tenets of career manifest themselves in everyday interactions within partnerships.

The article uses a narrative case approach to explore these interactions in depth. It reveals not only the persistence of normative assumptions within couple relationships but also how the ‘work’ of couple relationships draw on particular expectations surrounding what it means to negotiate a successful ‘career’. The paradigm of progress transects career/couple narratives, blurring the already opaque boundaries between productive and personal realms. This entanglement presents challenges for individuals, limiting prescriptions for what are considered ‘acceptable’ narratives of work and intimacy.

KeywordsCareer; coupling; gender; intimacy; narrative; relationships; work
Year2018
JournalSociological Research Online
PublisherSAGE
ISSN1360-7804
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1177/1360780418792431
Publication dates
Online17 Aug 2018
Publication process dates
Deposited25 Sep 2018
Accepted07 Jul 2018
Accepted author manuscript
Output statusPublished
Permalink -

https://repository.canterbury.ac.uk/item/88ww3/work-and-intimacy-reassessing-the-career-couple-norm-through-a-narrative-case-approach

  • 46
    total views
  • 143
    total downloads
  • 0
    views this month
  • 1
    downloads this month

Export as

Related outputs

The ghost of the stable path: stories of work-life change at the ‘end of career’
Potter, J. 2019. The ghost of the stable path: stories of work-life change at the ‘end of career’. Work, Employment and Society. https://doi.org/10.1177/0950017019870751
Crisis at work: identity and the end of career
Potter, J. 2015. Crisis at work: identity and the end of career. Palgrave Macmillan.