Bücher der Reihe Palgrave Macmillan Studies in Family and Intimate Life

This book compares understandings and experiences of love and intimacy of one distinct cultural group - Gujarati Indians - born and brought up in two different countries. In a rapidly globalizing world, this comparative ethnographic study explores how the context in which we are brought up shapes our most intimate attachments and family lives.

This book explores how digital communication generates new intimacies and meanings of friendship in a networked society, developing a theory of mediated intimacies to explain how social media contributes to dramatic changes in our ideas about personal relationships, through themes of self, youth, families, digital dating and online social capital.

Drawing on qualitative interviews with forty middle-class mothers living in Northern Ireland and the US, this book explores the strategies women adopt, as they take on and creatively re-make motherhood in ways which allow them to cope.

It is now over 20 years since 'open adoption' was first introduced, but it remains a controversial and contested part of social work practice.

This study is based upon original research carried out with lesbian, gay and queer parents and explores how genealogy, kinship, family, everyday life, gender, race, state welfare and intimacy are theorized and lived out, drawing upon interactionist, feminist, discursive and queer sociologies.

Exploring the growing global trend of solo living, this highly original study addresses core debates about contemporary social change in the context of globalization, including individualization and connection, the future of family formation, consumption and identities, belonging and 'community', living arrangements and sustainability.

This collection focuses on the real life experiences of conducting emprical research about families and relationships, with an emphasis on the actualities of doing research and the experiences of being a researcher.

Assembling Mass Observation Archive material with historiographies of family, house and nation from ancient-Greece to present-day Europe, China and America, this book contributes to current debates on identity, belonging, memory and material culture by exploring how power works in the small spaces of home.

Leading family sociologist David Morgan revisits his highly influential 'family practices' approach in this new book. Exploring its impact, and how it has been critiqued, Morgan shows the continued relevance of the approach with reference to time and space, the body, emotions, ethics and work/life balance.

Instead of seeing the family as a 'monolithic' entity, as though separate from its surroundings, this new approach draws attention to assemblages of various types that in different constellations and through different transactions relate people to each other as families and kin.

As intimate lives become more public, and discussions of gender and sexuality more complex, there is a need to rethink how we engage with our own perceptions and identifications with respect to intimacy. This book explores whether our intimate desires are limited by social norms and expectations, and if so what we might be able to do about it.

This book examines connections between personal, relational and material matters in everyday life in the context of broader and long standing social problems. It explores the connections between mundane practices in the reproduction of our bodies and our relations with those we live with, and the technological practices that inform daily life.

This book studies the growing number of lesbian women embarking on parenthood after coming out. Theoretical debates about lesbian motherhood often consider its assimilative or transgressive dimensions. This book offers a different approach, contextualising lesbian motherhood in relation to sexual citizenship and hegemonic discourses of kinship

An incisive engagement with the subject of intimacy and interpersonal relationships and the methods used to research families and personal life, this book introduces readers to contemporary conceptual and methodological frameworks for understanding intimacy and sexuality in families.

This edited collection explores family relations in two types of 'migrant families' in Europe: mixed families and transnational families. Based on in-depth qualitative fieldwork and large surveys, the contributors analyse gender and intergenerational relations from a variety of standpoints and migratory flows. In their examination of family life in a migratory context, the authors develop theoretical approaches from the social sciences that go beyond migration studies, such as intersectionality, the solidarity paradigm, care circulation, reflexive modernization and gender convergence theory. Making Multicultural Families in Europe will be of interest to students and scholars across a range of disciplines including migration and transnationalism studies, family studies, intergenerational studies, gender studies, cultural studies, development studies, globalization studies, ethnic studies, gerontology studies, social network analysis and social work.

This edited collection shows that good parenthood is neither fixed nor stable. The authors illustrate how different versions of parenthood coexist and how complex sets of actions are demanded to fulfil today's expectations of parenthood in Western societies.

This book addresses the nature of intimacy and relationships in a time of what Eva Illouz characterizes as ΓÇÿcold intimaciesΓÇÖ. The contributors to this collection highlight the ambivalence and tensions contained in ΓÇÿintimacyΓÇÖ by uncovering a nuanced and complex dynamic, in which interpersonal relations and the public sphere are mutually constituted. A range of topics areexplored, including the new conditions of ΓÇÿchoiceΓÇÖ, the abundance of partners, class and emotional competence, rational decision-making and the specific forms of ΓÇÿlove painΓÇÖ which can emerge from cooled intimacy. The chapters also shed light on the limits of this theoretical contribution, highlighting the importance of parenting, violence, poverty, and other material constraints that continue to limit and frame individualsΓÇÖ romantic choices. Overall this volume presents an interpretation of intimacy that is not just ΓÇÿcoldΓÇÖ but includes practices, desires and feelings that are safe and dangerous, that bring solace or erupt in violence, that lead to salvation or condemnation, and where virtual encounters and increased internal and crossborder mobility have altered the relationship between intimacy and (physical/emotional) distance.Romantic Relationships in a Time of ΓÇÿCold IntimaciesΓÇÖ will be of interest to scholars and students across a range of disciplines, including sociology, social work, social policy and demography, as well as practitioners and policy-makers with an interest in couple relationships.

How do Chinese, Japanese and Korean mothers in Britain make sense of their motherhood and employment? What are the intersecting factors that shape these women's identities, experiences and stories? Contributing further to the continuing discourse and development of intersectionality, this book examines East Asian migrant women's stories of motherhood, employment and gender relations by deploying interlocking categories that go beyond the meta axes of race, gender and class, including factors such as husbands' ethnicities and the locality of their settlement. Through this, Lim argues for more detailed and context specific analytical categories of intersectionality, enabling a more nuanced understanding of migrant women's stories and identities. East Asian Mothers in Britain will appeal to students and scholars across a range of disciplines and with an interest in identity, gender, ethnicity, class, migration and intersectionality.

This book critically assesses the main features of the modernization of family life and personal relationships by examining and comparing three European countries with different social and political pathways: Portugal, Switzerland and Lithuania. Drawing on national surveys of family trajectories and social networks, the contributors highlight personal and family relationships through the lens of network and life course perspectives as well as gender and generational perspectives. Providing innovative, comparative findings on families and personal networks through the use of diverse methodologies, this edited collection will be of interest to scholars, students and policymakers across a range of social science disciplines.

This book is about friendships in public settings today. Wilkinson examines friendships in the public settings of neighbourhoods, civil society and at work. Identifying the unique relevance which public friendships have to contemporary social problems, the chapters cover a range of topics, including work-life balance, women's 'double burden' and their leisure deficit, and contemporary neighbouring initiatives. Wilkinson shows how 'friendship time' at work provides solutions to new social problems including privacy: with the modern workplace being hyper-public and emphasizing visibility, monitoring and 24/7 availability, friendship's combination of voluntarism and trust enable a private refuge even in an open-plan office. The book also explores the way in which friendships in public settings like work and neighbourhood provide community to those in society who are more likely to be excluded from private familial intimacy.The Public Life of Friendship will be of interest to students and scholars across a range of social science disciplines with an interest in friendship and the sociology of personal life.

This book explores an online support group for women who are infertile.

How do Chinese, Japanese and Korean mothers in Britain make sense of their motherhood and employment? What are the intersecting factors that shape these women¿s identities, experiences and stories? Contributing further to the continuing discourse and development of intersectionality, this book examines East Asian migrant women¿s stories of motherhood, employment and gender relations by deploying interlocking categories that go beyond the meta axes of race, gender and class, including factors such as husbands¿ ethnicities and the locality of their settlement. Through this, Lim argues for more detailed and context specific analytical categories of intersectionality, enabling a more nuanced understanding of migrant women¿s stories and identities. East Asian Mothers in Britain will appeal to students and scholars across a range of disciplines and with an interest in identity, gender, ethnicity, class, migration and intersectionality.

Approaching family through the lens of food, this book provides a new perspective on the diversity of contemporary family life, challenging received ideas about the decline of the family meal, the individualization of food choice and the relationship between professional advice on healthy eating and the everyday practices of 'doing family'.

This edited collection shows that good parenthood is neither fixed nor stable. The authors illustrate how different versions of parenthood coexist and how complex sets of actions are demanded to fulfil today's expectations of parenthood in Western societies.

This volume provides readers with recent sociological approaches to family understanding, theorising and practices within the context of continuities and change, both across generations and during individual life courses. The contributors uniquely investigate the friction between persisting family needs and changing circumstances, between holding on to traditional family norms and adapting to fast-changing demands. Authors from nine countries develop and apply innovative theoretical and methodological approaches for a more differentiated description of European family lives at the beginning of the 21st century, and show that family sociology has achieved significant commonalities across national borders in Europe, thus helping our understanding of complex family realities. The book will be essential reading for students and scholars with an interest in family and intimate life, family sociology and policy, sociology and gender studies.

This book takes a novel approach to family, exploring in detail how status is inherited and maintained within families;

This edited collection explores family relations in two types of 'migrant families' in Europe: mixed families and transnational families. Based on in-depth qualitative fieldwork and large surveys, the contributors analyse gender and intergenerational relations from a variety of standpoints and migratory flows. In their examination of family life in a migratory context, the authors develop theoretical approaches from the social sciences that go beyond migration studies, such as intersectionality, the solidarity paradigm, care circulation, reflexive modernization and gender convergence theory. Making Multicultural Families in Europe will be of interest to students and scholars across a range of disciplines including migration and transnationalism studies, family studies, intergenerational studies, gender studies, cultural studies, development studies, globalization studies, ethnic studies, gerontology studies, social network analysis and social work.

This book presents an incisive and engaging account of love, intimacy and personal life in contemporary Western society. The authors draw on rich qualitative and large-scale survey data to explore how couples communicate with each other, negotiate the pressures and pleasures of parenthood, and the vagaries of sexual desire and intimacy across life course. Focusing on ΓÇÿthe everydayΓÇÖ, Couple Relationships in the 21st Century unpicks the ordinary and often mundane relationship work that goes into sustaining a relationship over time, breaking down the dichotomy between enduring relationships of quality and good enough or endured relationships. It contests the separation of couples into distinct relationship types ΓÇô defined through age, parenthood or sexuality. Looking through the lens of relationship practices it is clear that there is no ΓÇÿnormal coupleΓÇÖ: couples are what couples do. With a foreword by Dr Reenee Singh, Director, London Intercultural Couples Centre and Co-Director, Tavistock Family Therapy and Systemic Research Centre, this new extended edition provides an invaluable critical insight on contemporary experiences of coupledom and will be essential reading for scholars and students, clinicians working in couple and family therapy, and those involved in relationship support services.

This book critically assesses the main features of the modernization of family life and personal relationships by examining and comparing three European countries with different social and political pathways: Portugal, Switzerland and Lithuania. Drawing on national surveys of family trajectories and social networks, the contributors highlight personal and family relationships through the lens of network and life course perspectives as well as gender and generational perspectives. Providing innovative, comparative findings on families and personal networks through the use of diverse methodologies, this edited collection will be of interest to scholars, students and policymakers across a range of social science disciplines.