The modern family through modern eyes

Review of the book «Key concepts in family studies»

Abstract

The book introduces readers to the contemporary Western approaches, themes and language of family studies. The material of the book is organized on the principle of an encyclopedia. The book discusses a number of the most relevant concepts for understanding family issues: grandmothers/grandfathers, power, childhood, home, domestic violence, caregiving, individualization, motherhood, fatherhood, affection, public/private, rationality, parenthood, transnational families, etc. The initial theoretical premises of the book are the theories of individualization and reflexivity, intersectionality and interdisciplinarity. Sharing these theoretical positions, the authors of the book problematize the very concept of family. They point out the diversity of various forms of family life, moving away from the normative view of the family and showing the variability of this phenomenon in different historical, cultural, class, ethnic and racial contexts, as well as at different stages of the life cycle of a person or family.