Women, families in a globalized world
As our global society diversifies and becomes more racially, ethnically and religiously complex, and as socioeconomic disparities grow, there are more and more variations on “traditional” family life. Single parent and dual-income families have become the norm, and now are more common than the once prevalent two-parent, single-earner households of the mid-20th century. These changes are relevant because most of us will experience a multiplicity of family types in our lifetimes.
Bahira Trask, department chair and professor, HDFS, is a cultural anthropologist. Her work examines how economic transformations are impacting gender roles and family change, how concepts of race, ethnicity and gender are changing through globalizing influences, and what kind of policies can assist and strengthen low income families. In January 2015, Trask was awarded National Council on Family Relation’s prestigious fellow designation.
Her scholarship has been informed through participation on a number of national and community based research projects that focus on strengthening low-income families, including the Blueprints Initiative Delaware, revitalization program that supports eight Delaware communities, funded through the Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh and the Jesse Ball DuPont organization.
Dr. Trask is a frequent presenter for the United Nations Expert Group Meeting (EGM), representing the family policies around the world:
- EGM on Assessing family policies
- 2014 North American EGM
- February 2014 UN Year of the Family
- 2014 United Nations conference in Qatar
In June 2014, she was invited to participate in the White House Summit on Working Families.
Dr. Trask is the author and editor of a number of books in the area of family change and globalization including Women, Work and Globalization: Challenges and Opportunities (2014), Globalization and Families: Accelerated Systemic Social Change (Springer, 2010), Personal Relationships (Cognella, 2011), Cultural Diversity and Families: Expanding Perspectives (Sage, 2007), and The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Women’s Issues Worldwide, vol. 4 (Greenwood, 2003).
To learn more about her work, see:
- News Journal op-ed (Sept. 2015), focused on how 21st century families require more flexibility in work policies.
- TEDx Wilmington (2012) talk on the relationship between globalization and family change in Western and non-Western contexts.