Living in Precarity: Ethnography of Everyday Struggles of Single Mothers In Lithuania
Living in Precarity: Ethnography of Everyday Struggles of Single Mothers In Lithuania

Summary/Abstract: This paper presents challenges and life strategies of highly educated single mothers in Lithuania. My ethnography traces the impact on strategies of remaining in a country where exit strategies – alcoholism, suicide, emigration – prevail and seem as an “easier” option. It is a study concerned with the relationship between precarity, single motherhood, social reproduction and everyday living. I focus on precarious living conditions, social isolation and stigmatization, unappreciated and highly gendered care-work. Based on collaborative ethnographic fieldwork material, the paper presents the micro-level attempts to negotiate what it means to be a lone care-taker, to revalorize and challenge the hegemonic narratives of individual strength and success.

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