David Cameron argues he wants parents to see parenting classes as ‘aspirational’. He and others involved in policy making across the political spectrum argue there is a pressing need for more and more such early intervention in the lives of children, starting in-utero. This is where the opportunity exists to make lives better, or impair them for good, they say, claiming neuroscience tells us this is true. In this talk Dr Ellie Lee (Reader in Social Policy at the University of Kent and director of the Centre for Parenting Culture Studies) will argue against the rise of ‘neuroparenting’ and explain why it degrades both family autonomy and tarnishes science.

Date, Time and Venue: Tuesday 22 March at 7 PM in the Hallmark Midland Hotel, Derby

Tickets available on Eventbrite.

Ellie is reader in Social Policy at the University of Kent. Her research and teaching draws on sociological concepts such as ‘risk consciousness’ and ‘medicalisation’ to analyse the evolution of family policy and health policy. Her work explores why everyday issues – for example how women feel after abortion or how mothers feed their babies – turn into major preoccupations for policy makers and become heated topics of wider public debate.

She is the author of Abortion, Motherhood and Mental Health: Medicalizing Reproduction in the United States and Great Britain (Aldine Transaction) and Co-author of Parenting Culture Studies (Palgrave). She is the director of the Centre for Parenting Culture Studies and regularly discusses her research in the media and other public forums.