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Emile Durkheim on the Family
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Emile Durkheim on the Family

  • Mary Ann Lamanna - University of Nebraska, Omaha, USA, University of Nebraska, USA

October 2001 | 288 pages | SAGE Publications, Inc

"This valuable source for a systematic and comprehensive understanding of Durkheim's ideas on the family constitutes a major addition to the literature on the family, social theory, women's studies, and family law. Highly recommended for upper-division undergraduates and above."

-CHOICE

Emile Durkheim on the Family is intended to bring attention to this classical sociologist's work on the family. Durkheim's writings in this area are little known, but the family was nevertheless one of his primary interests, the subject of an intended book that was never written. Durkheim's ideas on the family appear only in scattered sources and a number of those sources have not been translated into English. Durkheim's Sociology of the family has not heretofore been presented and analyzed holistically.

The purpose of Lamanna's book is to bring together Durkheim's ideas on the family from diverse sources and to present his family sociology systematically and comprehensively. Quotations from Durkheim's writing or speaking enrich the analysis. Durkheim's work on the family is situated in its historical context and comparisons are drawn to present-day sociology of the family is situated in its historical context and comparisons are drawn to present-day sociology of the family and family issues.

Chapter topics include:

  • Durkheim's life and times
  • His evolutionary theory of the family
  • Methodologies for studying the family
  • The changing relationship of kin
  • Conjugal family and the state
  • The interior of the family
  • Family policy
  • Gender
  • Sexuality

An examination of Durkheim's work on the family reveals its close connections to his wee-known books and theories. Emile Durkheim on the Family should interest audiences in sociology of the family, social theory, family science, European intellectual history women's studies, legal history, and those generally interested in family studies and / or nineteenth and early twentieth century Europe.

 


 
1. Introduction
 
2. The Origins & Evolution of the Family
 
3. Studying the Family
 
4. The Family System: Kin, Conjugal Family, & the State
 
5. The Interior of the Family
 
6. Family Problems, Public Policy, & Social Justice
 
7. Women & Sex: Challenges to the Family Order
 
8. Conclusion

"…a significant contribution to Durkheim studies. The author correctly identifies the lacuna in Durkheim studies with regard to his remarks on family and has done a commendable job in bringing together the scattered references and discussions of the topic in Durkheim’s work." 

Rosalind Sydie
University of Alberta

"This valuable source for a systematic and comprehensive understanding of Durkheim's ideas on the family constitutes a major addition to the literature on the family, social theory, women's studies, and family law. Highly recommended for upper-division undergraduates and above."

CHOICE
Key features
  • Comprehensive coverage provides readers with the only available synthesis of Durkheim's widely scattered work on the family.
  • Includes Durkheim's views on the family not previously published in English, making them widely accessible to a U.S. and British audience for the first time, with direct quotations from Durkheim's writings or speaking enriching the analysis.
  • Provides historical context for Durkheim's work on the family and connects it to his other work and to present-date family theory, research, and issues, thus bringing theory to life in a way that challenges the idea we are in an historically novel period regarding the family.

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ISBN: 9781452264509

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ISBN: 9780761912071
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