GLOBALISING SOCIALISING From the global to the personal
Sociology and the family
The family is at the heart of sociological enquiry:
‘If individuals exist independently of others, why are their actions so distinctly patterned?’
This debate, that of structure vs. agency, requires the presence of identifiable socialising structures
The family is the most intimate and, arguably, the most influential of those structures
Globalised structural changes have challenged traditional family structures, provoking significant social anxiety here and in distant localities
From family to cultural identity
Family is often the primary driver and locus of our cultural identities
If you are considering how your cultural identity has been influenced by global events and systems, think about how you might be different from your family and their traditions
Is your cultural identity based more on ‘local’ traditions, or is it influenced by different cultural factors?
Today
Introducing the family
Individualism and the family
What is global about the family?
To what extent can the Western idea of the ‘nuclear family’ be considered culturally universal?
Who is in your family?
Sociology of the family
The sociology of the family is a relatively recent phenomena
Traditional social enquiry focused on instrumental (masculine), as opposed to affective, elements of the human condition
Talcott Parsons’ functionalism was the most prominent early form of sociological investigation Talcott Parsons, 1902-1979
Nuclear families
Parsons used the term ‘nuclear family’ to describe the ideal family unit of the expressive mother (the carer), instrumental father (the provider) and children
This unit not only represented what Parsons believed to be the most functional form of intimacy for humans, but reflected 1950s social norms in the Western world
Women in the UK: Births and Marriages
Functional families
Parsons argued that families are ‘factories which produce human personalities’ through our ‘primary socialisation’, which produces characteristics that often appear entirely natural
This socialisation provides the stability and social resources for new adults to face the outside world without the direct assistance of family
Recognising social norms, obeying authority, taking responsibility for ourselves
Through these functions family plays a vital role in the stable reproduction of society
Families also produce ‘stable adult personalities’ through the emotional security provided by marriage
In your experiences, who: Does the most domestic labour?
Has the most power?
Feminism and the family
Feminist sociologists argue that the patriarchal family ‘naturalises’ the family, making it a ‘thing’ rather than something we do
Ann Oakley emphasised power differentials in the nuclear family:
The family reproduces gender inequalities and patriarchal power on a micro-scale
The traditional family structure limits the role of women to mother and housewife
Domestic work and decision-making are unequally distributed
Family practices 
According to David Morgan (2011), the family is a practice rather than a formal structure
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Families are performed and can be understood by what they mean to those involved
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Family practices allow for a much broader understanding of family, intimacy and socialisation
Family beyond the home
Socialisation is an ongoing process: it is something that we do and extends beyond the primary socialisation of the family
Our understandings of ourselves are often developed through post-biological family intimate relationships
This intimate relationship, romantic or otherwise, can fill the place formally held by the ‘blood’ family
To what extent can your friends be considered to be family?
Sociological intimacy 
Our intimate relations are those that often feel most natural to us, yet they are historically and culturally constructed
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Modernity, particularly in the West, has popularised the freedom to choose those with whom we share intimate bonds
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Whilst this extends to friendship, the possibility of romantic love was the most significant change
Romantic love 
Beyond the family, romantic love has become the primary ideal form of intimacy
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Romantic love is a distinctly modern (and Western) concept, as economic advancements overcame the need for functional partnerships
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Romantic love is at the core of the Western ideal of the family and social stability
Will you be a Valentine?
Next Saturday, February 14th, is ‘Valentine’s’ Day’
Will you celebrate it? (or will somebody celebrate you?!)
Do you feel like this is a ‘local’ cultural tradition?
Valentines’ Day
Valentine’s day can be traced back to the execution of St. Valentine on the 14th of February around the 3rd century
By the 19th century it had become a point of romantic celebration in the US
Many ‘Western’ or ‘Latin’ countries (and China) celebrate similar holidays, although it is strongly rejected in other cultures
Romantic Madness?
Approx. US$10 billion is spent on Valentine’s Day each year in the US
Consumers in the UK spend an average of £41 each
Valentine’s Day appears to be a characteristically American practice (Source: National Retail Federation. All figures except 2013 are adjusted for inflation to 2012 dollars.)
Not so romantic
Valentine’s Day is often problematic outside of the Western world, signalling a cultural clash
Romantic ideals are thought to lead to ‘immoral’ sexual conduct and ‘commercial’ values
Groups in Indonesia and Saudi Arabia have previously called for boycotts of the day
Similarly, Valentine’s Day has also been a locus for mass protests against violence towards women
What could be wrong with Valentine’s day?
Transforming the family There have been a number of significant changes to the Western ‘nuclear’ family model in both social norms and in law
There has arisen an increased diversity of family forms
Both marriage and children have been increasingly postponed
Divorce rates rapidly increased during the late 20th Century
Untying the knot
Total Fertility Rate, England and Wales, 1938–2011
Bye bye, Daddy With increasing divorce rates and the postponement of marriage, the number of solo parents has also risen
Shifting traditions
Early modernist society had been characterised by patriarchal discipline (the metaphorical rule of the father)
The 1960s and 1970s were defined by a move to the postpatriarchal, or post-disciplinary, society in which enjoyment and self-expression were encouraged
Self-expression, individualism and the possibility of instant gratification had an increasingly influence upon social norms
These changes have had the strongest influence on parenting and other ‘disciplinary’ institutions such as schools and the family
Changing intimacy
Changes in public and private intimacy have changed significantly over recent decades as individual expression has become dominant
Differing expressions of sexuality have become more accepted
Masculine emotional expression, both publicly and privately, has become more socially accepted as part of a larger more to a ‘post-disciplinary’ society
When is it socially acceptable for men to cry?
The one, for now…
Romantic love, which focused on the ‘the one’ has arguably been surpassed in the West by ‘confluent love’ (see Giddens, 2009, p.372 and 1992) which is more contingent and active
These liquid, or consumer, identities often focus on unattainable fantasies of fulfilment (relationships and intimacy)
Confluent love is part of a rising global individualism where we still desire intimacy, but only within a specific context
Yet,…
Whilst changing social norms and economic factors have influenced these changes, family practices are highly differentiated by class and ethnicity
Generally;
Traditional families remain normatively and empirically dominant
Marriage remains the most significant symbolic recognition of love and intimacy
Strong gendered divisions in labour remain, and the instrumental/expressive split is socially normative
Conservative concerns Conservative Party, ‘Families, Children and Young People Policy’ “We believe that strong and stable families are the bedrock of a strong and stable society. That's why we are doing everything we can to support families in tough times.”
Are ‘strong families’ vital for strong societies?
Going global
Comparing families
Implicit in globalisation is the idea that local cultures exposed to global influences are forced into reinvention
The spread of Western individualism and ideas about selfexpression and sexuality are particularly influential
Some global similarities in family practices are emerging, often in response to parallel economic circumstances and the role of women
Conversely, family practices in many areas are distinctly local and have not changed significantly
Types of family
Monogamy: One spouse
Polygamy: More than one spouse Polygyny:
More than one
wife Polyandry:
More than one husband
Spreading the seed
A 1998 Ethnographic Atlas Codebook study found that 84% of 1,231 global societies had some form of polygamy (see Giddens, 2009, p.332)
Polygamy is much more common in less developed areas of the world, in particular in Asia, Africa and the Pacific
Extended families are most likely to be found in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and then Central/South American
These families can compensate for the absence of one or both parents from the household, often caused by economic or health conditions
Is polygamy an ‘uncivilised’ form of the family?
Working together
It had been argued (see Goode, 1963 in Giddens, 2009, p.336) that the nuclear family is best suited to industrial life
As larger kinship groups broke apart due to economic developments, smaller family groups would become the norm
Small families are better suited to urban life and economic developments allow women to work domestically and children to be educated
The ‘nuclear family’ is thus the most developed form of the family
Western influence?
Yet, as Therborn (2004 in Giddens, 2009, p.337) found, family types are not necessarily becoming more globally similar
Because local forms still exist, the pressure of Western influences has stimulated a diversity of family practices
The spread of modernity and Western values, particularly individualism, has extended the reach of romantic love and monogamous families
This influence has prompted shifts in family practices, rather than an adoption of the ideal of the nuclear family
“Global family structures”
In spite of marked family changes around the globe over the last half-century, children are still most likely to live in two-parent families in all countries except South Africa.
Growing up with a single parent is:
Although marriage rates for adults aged 18-49 are declining worldwide,
Especially common in sub-Saharan Africa, in Central and South America, and in several English-speaking Western countries In the U.S., the U.K., New Zealand, and Canada, a fifth or more of children do so Asia, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe have the world’s lowest rates of single parenthood.
They remain high in Asia and the Middle East (between 47 percent in Singapore and 80 percent in Egypt), and are particularly low in Central/South America. The rate of cohabitation for adults aged 18-49 tops 30 percent in some Central/South American countries and 20 percent in some European nations.
While fertility rates are also declining worldwide, non-marital childbearing is increasing in many regions, with the highest rates found in Central/South America and Western Europe.
Autonomous women 
Women are decreasing their dependence on men all around the world by moving into the workforce and into education
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Patriarchal structures are eroding as women, with increased skills and income, have more capacity to leave relationships or not enter into them at all
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One of the strongest signs of this shift has been lowering fertility rates in most parts of the world
Falling Fertility Rates
Why would fertility rates drop as societies become wealthier?
Migration and family diasporas
Families (particularly extended families) may be separated by the need to migrate for work
Whilst migration used to be primarily a male pursuit, economic, geographical and cultural changes have meant that women make up almost half of all global migrants (Morrison, Schiff and Sjoblom, 2008)
This creates global diasporas (a scattered population of common geographical origin) of cultures, and geographically separated families
Communication technologies have led to a ‘compression of time and space’ that allows for the maintenance of intimate bonds between family members
The development of digital communication technologies has extended family practices beyond the local
DIY Summary
Is there any link between globalisation and changes in your family practices?
ASK Week – Spring 2015
9-13 February A whole week of academic skills workshops, events, appointments and drop-ins See ASK web site or BBL for details http://www.brunel.ac.uk/services/library/ask
The next week‌ W EEK 7 T HERE IS NO ALTERNATIVE ? T HE( RE) BIRTH OF GLOBAL CAPITALISM Core readings:
Capitalism and Globalisation: http://www.understandglobalization.com/2013/03/27/globalization-andcapitalism/ Capitalist globalization: http://www.counterfire.org/articles/book-reviews/17001capitalist-globalization-consequences-resistance-and-alternatives See also: Bello, W. (2003) Global capitalism versus global community. R ACE & C LASS , 44(4): 63-76.