Social Origins of Private Life: A History of Ame

Currentdebatesaboutthefutureofthefamilyareoftenbasedonseriousmisconceptionsaboutitspast.Arguingthatthereisnobiologicallymandatedoruniversallyfunctionalfamilyform,StephanieCoontztracesthecomplexityandvarietyoffamilyarrangementsinAmericanhistory,fromNativeAmericankingroupstotheemergenceofthedominantmiddle-classfamilyidealinthe1890s.Surveyingandsynthesizingavastrangeofpreviousscholarship,aswellasengagingmoreparticularstudiesoffamilylifefromtheseventeenthtothenineteenthcenturies,CoontzoffersahighlyoriginalaccountoftheshiftingstructureandfunctionofAmericanfamilies.Heraccountchallengesstandardinterpretationsoftheearlyhegemonyofmiddle-classprivacyandaffectiveindividualism,pointingtotherichtraditionofalternativefamilybehaviorsamongvariousethnicandsocioeconomicgroupsinAmerica,andarguingthatevenmiddle-classfamilieswentthroughseveraltransformationsinthecourseofthenineteenthcenture.Thepresentdominantfamilyform,groundedincloseinterpersonalrelationsandpremisedondomesticconsumptionofmass-producedhouseholdgoodshasarisen,Coontzargues,fromalongandcomplexseriesofchangingpoliticalandeconomicconjunctures,aswellasfromthedestructionorincorporationofseveralalternativefamilysystems.AclearconceptionofAmericancapitalism'scombinedandunevendevelopmentisthereforeessentialifwearetounderstandthehistoryofthefamilyasakeysocialandeconomicunit.Lucidanddetailed,TheSocialOriginsofPrivateLifeislikelytobecomethestandardhistoryofitssubject.