Designing families : the search for self and community in the information age

Examining the challenges facing the nuclear family as it enters the new millenium, John Scanzoni sets the issue of change in families in aN historical and cross-cultural perspective tracing the development of the family from the Agricultural Age to the Information Age. Cover 1 Contents 10 Preface 18 Chapter 1 - New Families—New Ideas 24 The Information Age 25 Six Principles for a New Family Policy 27 Repairing Damaged Solidarities 29 Self and Community 29 Women's Interests 30 Empowerment: Personal and Political 30 Dialogue 31 Positive Welfare 32 Manufactured Risk 33 Confronting Violence 34 Conclusion 35 Part I - Designing Families Past and Present 38 Chapter 2 - An Unfinished Revolution: The 1940s Nonconnected Family Style 40 A Foot in Each of Two Family Styles 41 The Connected Family Style 41 The Freedom to Love 42 The Nonconnected Family Style 43 The Industrial Revolution 45 The American Dream and Kin Support 45 Unique Constraints on African Americans 47 Fictive Kin 47 The Emergence of Feminism 50 The Seneca Falls Declaration 51 Domestic Science: A Halfway Feminism 51 Homemaker 52 Mother 53 Children 53 Reinventing Sex and Love: A Halfway Liberation 54 The Collapse and Revival of Mutual Aid 56 Mutual Aid Replaced by the Government 57 Postwar Suburbia: The Pinnacle of the Nonconnected Style 58 A New Family Policy: The G.I. Bill 60 Women's Continued Disadvantage 61 Chapter 3 - A Continuing Revolution: The 1950s to the Present 62 Separate, Unequal, and Discontent 62 An Expanded Mother Role 64 "Quiet Desperation" 65 A "Massive Failure" 66 Social Protections 67 An "Impoverished Experience" 67 Intimate Networks 68 A "Major Problem" 69 Feminism Revived 70 Government Participation 71 Confronting the Sexual Double Standard 72 Love in the Late 20th Century 73 Love as Caring for Oneself 75 Self-Sufficiency 76 Cohabitation: Love Without a License 79 Domestic Partnership 80 The Wedding as a Ritual of Transformation 80 Love and License Among Cohabiting Same-Sex Couples 81 The Culmination of Changes in Love: The Erotic Friendship 85 The Generic Essence of the Erotic Friendship 85 Adding Features 87 Love as Emotional Intimacy 73 The Counterrevolution Against New Views of Sex, Love, and Marriage 88 "Kids First" 89 "Cultural Decay" 90 Restricting Divorce 91 The Fate of the Equal Rights Amendment 92 The 1980 White House Conference on Families 93 Conclusion 94 Chapter 4 - Cohousing as Family Reform 96 Reforming the Nonconnected Lifestyle 97 Spatial Design and Social Connectedness 98 Support Networks 99 Sound Neighborhoods and Healthy Families 100 Balancing Freedom With Connectedness 101 The Struggles of Group Decision Making 103 Issues that may Unite or Divide a Cohousing Neighborhood 106 Children 106 Political or Social Agenda 107 Dyadic Intimacy Versus the Primary Group 108 Historic Struggles Over the Freedom-Connectedness Tension 111 North American Communes of the 1960s and 1970s 116 Spatial Features 117 The Shakers 111 The Oneida Community 113 The Kibbutzim of the 1940s and 1950s 114 Freedom and Connectedness in Today's "Community as Commodity" 118 The Common-Interest Development 118 The Fortress Mentality 120 Adults-Only Developments 120 Conclusion 121 Part II - Inventing the Future by Completing the Revolution 124 Chapter 5 - Empowering Women: Balancing the Private and Public Spheres 126 Utopian Realism 128 Gender Interchangeability 129 Equal-Partner Marriage: An Unrealized Vision 130 A Nordic Feminist Vision 131 The New Everyday Life 132 A Cure for Isolation 132 Women's Empowerment 134 Sanctuary: The Specter of Violence 134 A "Different Future" 136 A Safe Place 138 Practical Considerations 139 Nonviolent Couple Decision Making: A Level Playing Field 140 Figuring Out Everyday Matters 141 Dyadic Power 141 The Friend as Mediator 143 The Neighborhood as Resource 143 The Interests of Men: A Pact Between the Genders 144 The Rise of Productivism 146 A Fresh Look at Paid Work 147 A Fresh Look at Productivity 148 Noneconomic Productivity 149 Productivity and Moral Worth 150 The NEL as a Zone of Productivity 151 Children's Capital 152 Group Influences on Creating and Maintaining Norms 152 The Social Context of Gender Flexibility 153 Conclusion 155 Chapter 6 - Empowering Children and Youth: Making Parenting Public 157 Children in Nonindustrial Settings 158 Children's Productivity and Autonomy 160 Children in Industrial Settings 161 Children as Social Agents 163 Children in the New Everyday Life 164 Sanctuary and Children 164 A Proactive Strategy 166 Corporal Punishment 167 Children as Partners 169 The Production of Capital 171 Physical Capital: Tangible Resources 171 Financial Capital: Cash Resources 172 Human Capital: Internal Resources 172 Social Capital: Shared Obligations as Resources 172 Giving and Getting 173 The Free Rider 174 A "Moral" Obligation 175 Social Capital and Group Solidarity 176 Self-Interest 176 The Long-Term Decline of Social Capital 177 The Public Household 178 Teams in the NEL Community 179 The New Human Capital 180 Knowledge Workers 180 Men and the New Human Capital 181 The Team Facilitator 182 Homeplace Teams 184 Children's Responsibilities 184 Jobs and People 185 Growing Social Capital: Contributing to the Community 186 Growing Human Capital: Becoming a Critical Thinker 186 A Laboratory of Democracy 188 A Workshop for Gender Equity 188 Rewarding the Coach 190 A Zone of Productivity 191 The Caregiver 193 A Productive Aging Society 193 Reinventing the "Older Person" 194 Geographic Mobility 194 Child-Free Adults 197 Redefining the "Good Parent" 198 Lone-Parent Households 198 Conclusion 200 Chapter 7 - Empowering the Community: Making the Private Political 203 The Political Vision of the Religious Right 204 A Strategy of Retreat 204 A Strategy of Confrontation 205 The Political Vision of the New Everyday Life 207 New Social Forms 207 Grafting the Politics of Class Onto the Politics of Gender 209 An Example from Cohousing 210 Why should We Care for Each Other? 211 A Moral Problem 212 Positive Welfare 213 Á Lifestyle Alliance 213 The Reconstruction of Society 214 The Clanlike Federation 215 Demonstration Programs 216 A Community-Government Partnership 218 The Rise and Fall of HUD 219 Tenant Empowerment 220 Producing Space and Income: The Example of the G.I. Bill 222 Widening the Political Agenda 223 The Public Schools 224 Economic Opportunities 224 Sustainability 224 Neighborhood Production of Financial Capital 226 The Teleneighborhood 226 Perils and Pitfalls 227 The Not-for-Profit Partnership 228 Moving Toward Empowerment 229 A Department of Community Development 230 Conclusion 232 Chapter 8 - Conclusion: The Revolution that Never Ends 234 Cohousing 236 The New Everyday Life 237 Six Principles for Family Policy 240 Prospects for Utopian Realism 241 Research Questions 243 Participatory Action Research 244 Notes 246 Index 278 Designing Families is a thought-provoking examination of the challenges facing the nuclear family as it enters the new millenium. John Scanzoni sets the issue of change in families in aN historical and cross-cultural perspective tracing the development of the family from the Agricultural Age to the Information Age.