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Climate Change, Disasters, Sustainability Transition and Peace in the Anthropocene pp 153–174Cite as

Violent Gender Social Representations and the Family as a Social Institution in Transition in Mexico

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Part of the book series: The Anthropocene: Politik—Economics—Society—Science ((APESS,volume 25))

Abstract

The Anthropocene has led to significant discussions on the emergence of a new era in human and Earth history, with all its implications. In it, human beings are at the same time the main threat to the Planet and the potential solution, leading to discussions in the social sciences and the humanities addressing the societal consequences of complex interrelations between global environmental change, lack of sustainable development, poor governance, inequality, social challenges, economic crises and risk society. In the midst of these changes and debates, social relations, social dynamics and social institutions have also changed significantly and at a very rapid pace, reflecting changes over the past decades. The family, considered the basic institution of society, is also a historically-bound institution, based on violent dynamics of gender domination, exclusion and subordination in patriarchal societies, that has changed across time and space.

In the past five decades, the period of most intense anthropogenic activities, it is one of the main social institutions that has experienced very visible changes which are redefining social knowledge, social relations and identities in multiple ways. It is not that the family has changed because of the Anthropocene, but rather that broad societal changes reflected in the Anthropocene have also impacted on the family. Social Representations Theory (SRT) is an epistemological, theoretical and methodological perspective that has been evolving since the 1960s and that deals with common-sense knowledge, a way of making the unfamiliar familiar, understood as the link between knowledge and practice, and practice and knowledge in everyday life. It also looks into the way in which scientific and expert knowledge is accommodated in lay people’s lives on a quotidian basis.

This chapter, based on the linkages between gender and social representations studies, develops a theoretical-conceptual framework to investigate the transitions, challenges and continuities of the family as institution in the current époque, in the specific case of Mexico, especially following technological advances and legislative changes that have polarised the public.

It unfolds in three main sections. First, in the Introduction, there are four interrelated subsections dealing with the general historical and conceptual framework, namely (i) the current historical époque: the dawn of the Anthropocene (7.1.1); (ii) the theoretical and methodological model: Social Representations Theory (7.1.2); (iii) the object of study: the family as social institution (7.1.3); and (iv) the context of the study: social and gender violent dynamics in Mexico (7.1.4). The second main section addresses the family, social representations and gender; it presents the theoretical-methodological model. The third and last section is thematic, looking at assisted reproductive technologies and ‘homoparenting’ (gay and lesbian parenting) in Mexico. There is a brief closing reflection at the end of the chapter.

Associate Professor at the Regional Multidisciplinary Research Centre (CRIM), National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). Email: sesohi@hotmail.com.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Ideology is not understood as false consciousness, but rather as “a coherent system of beliefs that guides peoples to concrete ways of understanding and valuing the world, providing a base for the evaluation of conducts and other social phenomena, and suggesting appropriate behaviours and responses” (Facio 1999: 3).

  2. 2.

    Although the study of social representations of the family as institution in transition in Mexico could also be addressed following the ‘Structural’ or the ‘Sociological’ school, it is important to note that the present model, given its objectives, is rooted in the ‘Socio-genetic’ school, enabling us to look at social representations in terms of both content and process, looking at the process though which they are formed, transformed and circulate, without obliterating their internal structure or the societal conditions that give rise to them. This is because undertaking a ‘Structural’ analysis would use multivariate quantitative methods in order to look at the representation as a heterogeneous product, as something already constituted, in order to analyse its internal structure (its nucleus and periphery), its stability, defensive system, themata and coherence. It would seek to respond to Jodelet’s (1989) question “how and what does one know?” On the other hand, a ‘Sociological’ analysis would emphasise the specific conditions that determine social representations, their production and circulation, as well as the interactions and group dynamics following them, using predominantly quantitative methods, centred on answering Jodelet’s (1989) question “who knows and from where does one know?”.

  3. 3.

    “Currently, human assisted reproductive technologies include, at least, homologous, heterologous and intraperitoneal artificial insemination (IPI), in vitro fertilization, fertilization through embryo transfer, gametes intrauterine transfer (GIUT), zygote intrafallopian transfer both transferring pre-embryos at the earliest stages of fertilization and transferring embryos in the Fallopian tubes in more advanced development stages (GIFT and ZIFT), intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), pronuclear stage tubal transfer (PROST), Oocyte, spermatozoa and embryo culture and transfer to the uterus, and surrogacy” (Martínez 2015: 360).

  4. 4.

    Note that the study by the company Merk Serono conducted in 2012 and presented in 2013 is cited, because although it may seem outdated, it is the only study of the market for fertility that has been undertaken in Mexico.

  5. 5.

    Ingenes Institute, “Who We Are”; at: www.ingenes.com (11 March 2018).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Regional Multidisciplinary Research Centre (CRIM), National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), Mexico City, Mexico

    Serena Eréndira Serrano Oswald

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  1. Serena Eréndira Serrano Oswald
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Peace Research and European Security Studies (AFES-PRESS), Mosbach, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

    Hans Günter Brauch

  2. Centre for Regional Multidisciplinary Research (CRIM), National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico

    Úrsula Oswald Spring

  3. Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK

    Andrew E. Collins

  4. Centre for Regional Multidisciplinary Research (CRIM), National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico

    Serena Eréndira Serrano Oswald

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Serrano Oswald, S.E. (2019). Violent Gender Social Representations and the Family as a Social Institution in Transition in Mexico. In: Brauch, H., Oswald Spring, Ú., Collins, A., Serrano Oswald, S. (eds) Climate Change, Disasters, Sustainability Transition and Peace in the Anthropocene. The Anthropocene: Politik—Economics—Society—Science, vol 25. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97562-7_7

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