What is the ‘red thread’ of this blog?

Ariadne's thread is a metaphor that refers to Greek mythology, where Ariadne is a king's daughter in Crete who gave her beloved Theseus a ball of red thread so that he could find his way out of the Minotaur's labyrinth.

The concept of a “red thread,” meaning a guiding theme, is often demanded of writers and story tellers in Denmark. Schools in Denmark ask students to reflect on their choice of a red thread when they come in for an oral exam, or when they write an essay. The red thread is meant to help us see important objects and ideas more clearly by weaving together consistent connections as we confront a labyrinth of source material. Therefore, the red thread shields us from cherry picking facts and theories to fit a story, or even a fixed moral position.

My personal journey into childcare design started with game theory. I had the fortune to learn about Copenhagen's childcare admission system as a new father, and to meet two young game theorists, Daniel Monte and Norov Tummenassan. My first thoughts were that we could formally model the Copenhagen admission system, and propose alternative solutions. We set out to solve this problem, but over a weekend Daniel and Norov came back with a startling result. If we look at childcare admissions as a ``game'', no childcare system can be fair. That result meant that all systems need to make compromises.

This blog uses a simple red thread to study child care systems around the world: a study of childcare admission systems. Childcare admission systems are interesting to study around the world because they require compromises about shared values of fairness. These systems are also interesting because there are a lot of good choices, but also bad and lazy choices. By tracing this single narrative, I hope to tell the story that child care admission systems matter, and to use these systems to cast light on the rich set of historical, cultural, technological, and political forces that shape child care across time and place.