New Perspectives in the Sociology of the Family

Theoretical and empirical studies conducted from a feminist perspective in the 20th century generated increased interest in the family among both academics and the general population. Terms such as the ‘second shift’ – referring to women’s dual roles at work and at home – have entered our everyday vocabulary. But because they often focused on specific issues within the domestic realm, feminist studies of the family did not always reflect larger trends and influences taking place outside home (Giddens 2010).

An important body of sociological literature on the family has emerged which draws on feminist perspectives, but is not strictly informed by them. Of primary concern are the larger transformations which are taking place in family forms – the formation and dissolution of families and households, and the evolving expectations within individuals’ personal relationships. The rise in divorce and lone parenting, the emergence of ‘reconstituted families’ and gay families, and the popularity of cohabitation are all subjects of concern. Yet these transformations cannot be understood apart from the larger changes occurring in our late modern age. Attention must be paid to the shifts occurring at the societal, and even global, level if we are to grasp the link between personal transformations and larger patterns of change. One of the most important contributions to this literature has been made Ulrich Beck and Elisabeth Beck-Gernsheim.

Beck and Beck-Gernsheim

In The Normal Chaos of Love (1995), Beck and Beck-Gernsheim examine the tumultuous nature of personal relationships, marriages and family patterns against the backdrop of a rapidly changing world. The traditions, rules and guidelines which used to govern personal relationships no longer apply, they argue, and individuals are now confronted with an endless series of choices as part of constructing, adjusting, improving or dissolving the unions they form with others. The fact that marriages are now entered into voluntarily, rather than for economic purposes or at the urging of family, brings both freedoms and new strains, demanding a great deal of hard work and effort.

Beck and Beck-Gernsheim see the present age as one filled with colliding interests between family, work, love and the freedom to pursue individual goals. This collision is felt acutely within personal relationships, particularly when there are two ‘labour market biographies’ to juggle instead to one. By this, Beck and Beck-Gernsheim mean that a growing number of women in addition to men are pursuing careers over the course of their lifetimes. Previously women were more likely to work part-time outside the home, or to take significant time away from their careers to raise children. These patterns are less fixed than they once were; both women and men now place emphasis on their professional and personal needs. Beck and Beck-Gernsheim conclude that relationships in the modern age are about much more than relationships – not only are love, sex, children, marriage and domestic duties topics for negotiation, but relationships are also about work, politics, economics, professions and inequality. A diverse selection of problems – from the mundane to the profound – now confronts modern couples.

Perhaps it is not surprising, then, that antagonisms between women and men are on the rise. Beck and Beck-Gernsheim claim that the ‘battle between the sexes’ is the ‘central drama of our times’, as evidenced in the growth of the marriage counselling industry, family courts, marital self-help groups and divorce rates. But even though marriage and family seem to be more ‘flimsy’ than ever before, they still remain very important to people. Divorce is increasingly common, but rates of remarriage are high. Fewer people choose to get married, but the desire to live with someone as part of a couple is certainly holding steady.