Parenting/Internet/Kids: Domesticating Technologies

Parenting/Internet/Kids, with three key terms slashed together, conveys the idea that the practice of parenting may extend both to the Internet and to our children--to the extent that both require attention, care, and forms of regulation, and, in turn, provide support and enjoyment. While the triadic title is somewhat playful, it also strikes a serious note and introduces layered possibilities: we are not simply raising children who have grown up in the internet age, but also Domesticating Technologies by ＂managing＂ the computer (relatively young in age, too, having established itself in homes in the 1980s). Including perspectives from scholars and parents living in Australia, Canada, India, Japan, the UK, and the USA, the collection examines how the intimate presence of computer technology in our homes and on our bodies affects not only mothers and parenting, but family life more broadly.

Jaqueline McLeod Rogers is a mother of two adult daughters and Professor and Chair (Department of Rhetoric) at University of Winnipeg. Her doctoral thesis studied fiction by women (published as Aspects of the Female Novel) and she has continued exploring women’s experiences and writing. The blog (https: //familybloglines.com/ ) eventuated in this co-edited collection. Recently, she’s explored urban space and local place and published McLuhan’s Techno-Sensorium City: Coming to our Senses in a Programmed Environment (Lexington). Marshall McLuhan used to predict we’d live in houses without walls: Fiona Joy Green, PhD, is a feminist mother and Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of Winnipeg who believes in the power of revolutionary feminist motherwork. She’s the author of Practicing Feminist Mothering (ARP) and co-editor of four Demeter Press collections that address evolving feminist parenting practices and maternal pedagogies. Fiona also explores parenting and families in relation to the everchanging digital world in her role as co-author of the blog Family Blog Lines: Tal[k]ing Care(https: //familybloglines.com/).