Building an infrastructure for everyday lives

This paper takes as its focus the practical solutions and new ways of thinking being forwarded by women across Europe under the umbrella of EuroFEM. It sets these case studies in the context of the developing importance of the ‘everyday life concept’. This concept has grown from two routes, firstly, feminist concerns for the way in which much of women's time is spent attempting to overcome the separation of home, waged work, the market and public institutions, secondly, arising out of stmcturation theory, the discussion of the opportunity/constraint negotiation through which life is lived and the possibility of public policy enhancing survival and coping strategies. The paper goes on to ask how these ways of thinking about daily life can be mainstreamed.

The paper draws upon research currently funded under the fourth action programme of equal opportunities for women and men.