Post-modernists & Personal-Life Flashcards
(4 cards)
‘Significant relationships’ - Smart
E - Smarts work moves beyond the purely structural analysis, focusing on how individuals construct and interpret their own family meanings e.g. LGBT community shows how individuals create networks of supporting care, the personally significant, regardless of legal or biological ties.
E - This demonstrates how personal life, caption, subjective and dynamic nature of a contemporary family life my relationships of forged through emotion, history and individual choice, rather than solely through legal of blood connection - moves away from idea of ‘fixed’ family unit to acknowledge complex website, relationships, reflecting, post, modern ideas of de-differentiation and individualization.
E - However, functionalists contend that such diverse forms, while personally meaningful, may not adequately perform universal functions traditionally associated with in nuclear family, such a socialization or economic support leading to dysfunctionality.
‘Pure relationships’ - Giddens
E - Giddens argues intimate relationships are now based on individual choice and equality - pure relationship as typical of today’s society - exists mainly to satisfy each others needs.
E - This means the relationship is likely to survive only so long as both partners think it is, that an interest to do so couples stay together because of love, happiness, or sexual attraction, rather than because of tradition - family less important, not bothered
E - Jamieson (1998) argues they exaggerate how individualized modern relationships are. Even in late modernity, relationships remain deeply embedded in wider social networks, and emotional ties - people not as free.
Individualisation - Beck
E - Beck contends in a ‘risk society’ traditional institutions have lost their guiding power meaning traditional social structures have less power over people - ‘negotiated family’ where roles in relationships are negotiated by individuals.
E - This highlights how individuals are compelled to take on more responsibility for their own life, trajectories and relationships, leading to a proliferation of diverse family forms as people choose their partners and lifestyles. This explains stuff such as living, apart together or singlehood by choice as individuals prioritize, personal freedom.
E - However, Marxists argue it’s seen as a FCC. Why are used illusion of choice is pervasive actual freedom to choose one’s family form is heavily constraint by social class and economic circumstances.
Diversity - Stacey
E - Stacey identified complex family structures, emerging from divorce and remarriage where ex spouses, new partners and stepchildren maintain significant relationship, forming a divorce extended family. This reinforces, the new types, emerging trends, and the boundaries of traditional nuclear family.
E - this illustrates how conditions have led to a breakdown of a single dominant family norm. Family is not about legal or biological ties but it’s a process of negotiation an adaptation.
E - However, Chester argues the extent of family diversity in UK is exaggerated - ‘Neo-conventional family’ is most common, suggesting many diverse family types I’ll just variations of the nuclear.
