Deborah Chambers - A Sociology of Family Life

1 Cover

2 Title Page A Sociology of Family Life Change and Diversity in Intimate Relations 2nd Edition DEBORAH CHAMBERS & PABLO GRACIA polity

3 Copyright Page Copyright Page Copyright © Deborah Chambers & Pablo Gracia 2022 The right of Deborah Chambers & Pablo Gracia to be identified as Authors of this Work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First edition published in 2012 by Polity Press This second edition first published in 2022 by Polity Press Polity Press 65 Bridge Street Cambridge CB2 1UR, UK Polity Press 101 Station Landing Suite 300 Medford, MA 02155, USA All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. ISBN-13: 978-1-5095-4135-5 ISBN-13: 978-1-5095-4136-2 (pb) A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Control Number: 2021939310 by Fakenham Prepress Solutions, Fakenham, Norfolk NR21 8NL The publisher has used its best endeavours to ensure that the URLs for external websites referred to in this book are correct and active at the time of going to press. However, the publisher has no responsibility for the websites and can make no guarantee that a site will remain live or that the content is or will remain appropriate. Every effort has been made to trace all copyright holders, but if any have been overlooked the publisher will be pleased to include any necessary credits in any subsequent reprint or edition. For further information on Polity, visit our website: politybooks.com

4 Preface and Acknowledgements Preface and Acknowledgements This second edition of the key text A Sociology of Family Life forms an authoritative guide to sociological debates about family life, intimacies and personal relationships. The book provides a topical and comprehensive guide to key sociological debates and empirical research on personal and family life. It draws together, in an accessible form, some of the most significant concepts, approaches and events that have contributed to sociological research on family life and intimacies. This edition has been revised throughout. It could not have happened without Pablo Gracia’s superb co-authorship. This new edition includes: revised and updated chapters coverage of recent development in the field coverage of pertinent new movements, debates and events an extensive updated set of references a set of questions for reflection and discussion at the ends of chapters. We extend our thanks to the following: our respective universities, Newcastle University and Trinity College Dublin, for their supportive research environments Jonathan Skerrett, commissioning editor at Polity for his excellent guidance in facilitating the production of this second edition and, most importantly, for inviting Pablo Gracia to collaborate in the project Séan Lennon for his excellent contribution as research assistant in conducting an exhaustive literature review, editing references and making relevant suggestions for the new content of the book our families, friends and personal communities who have supported and sustained us while the book was written, both before and during the Covid-19 lockdown. Deborah Chambers and Pablo Gracia Newcastle and Dublin April 2021

5 Introduction Themes and issues Organization of the book Notes

6 1 Traditional Approaches to the Family Late nineteenth-century sociological perspectives Engels: family, private property and the state The twentieth-century functional family Companionate marriage Community and kinship studies Race and ethnicity in family studies Feminism and families Conclusions Questions for Reflection and Discussion

7 2 Individualization, Intimacy and Family Life Individualization and changing families Critiques of the concept of individualization Doing and displaying families Non-traditional family relationships Same-sex intimacies and families of choice Black and minority ethnic kinship ties Conclusions Questions for Reflection and Discussion

8 3 Parenting Practices and Values Changing parenthood and parenting Morality and motherhood Fatherhood: traditional and new models Fatherhood after divorce Domestic violence in families with children Parenting among minority ethnic groups Parenting in LGBTQ+ families Conclusions Questions for Reflection and Discussion

9 4 The Changing Nature of Childhood Changing ideas about childhood Children’s socialization and agency Children and divorced families Childhood, social inequalities and consumption Children, digital media and the home The privatization of childhood Conclusions Questions for Reflection and Discussion Notes

10 5 Families and Ageing Societies Changing dynamics in ageing and family life Older people and family support Gender differences among older people Same-sex relationships among older people Globalization, old age and kinship in Southeast and East Asian communities Conclusions Questions for Reflection and Discussion

11 6 Globalization, Migration and Intimate Relations Gendered migration patterns Globalization, migration and family care Marriage strategies and mobility Commercially negotiated marriage Maintaining cultural traditions in diasporic settings Transnational mail-order brides Undocumented migrant families Conclusions Questions for Reflection and Discussion

12 7 Families, Fertility and Populations Fertility policies from a global perspective The case of Japan: a low-fertility industrialized country Romania’s pro-natalist policy under Ceauşescu India’s preference for sons China’s one-child policy Conclusions Questions for Reflection and Discussion

13 8 Families and New Reproductive Technologies Assisted conception and relatedness Approaches to new reproductive technologies Donor insemination and the regulation of families Infertility treatment from a global perspective: the South Asian diaspora Donor technologies in the Muslim Middle East Commercial surrogacy in India Conclusions Questions for Reflection and Discussion Notes

14 9 New Directions: The Politics of Family, Intimacy and Personal Life The politics of family values The politics of family, race and nation Black Lives Matter and extended family bonds Global and economic dimensions of intimacy, family and caregiving New intimacies Friends and family Personal life Notes

15 References

16 Index

17 End User License Agreement

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