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Answer
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Hint
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Deborah Chambers (2012)
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This sociologist, with similar views to Smart argues: -Pure relationships are not necessarily 'forever' and do not involve long-term commitment, stability and permanence enforced by external pressures, such as the demands of parents and wider kin, or by other external standards and values. -Not all components of tradition have declined. The 'cereal packet' traditional family, involving life-long, heterosexual marriage and clear divisions in gender roles, may have declined, and people are no longer obliged to live in such traditional ways. But this does not mean they are free to do whatever they want, most people are still committed to the values surrounding the conduct of their personal lives that are passed down by culture, history, their parents and their communities. -Even though people are living slightly different lifestyles today, people's everyday behaviour is not that different from in the past (backed up by research evidence, women still mainly do domestic labour and childcare in most relationships). |
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Judith Stacey (1998)
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This postmodernist sociologist argues greater freedom and choice has benefitted women. They are now able to free themselves from patriarchal oppression and to shape their family arrangements to meet their needs. She defines a new family structure - 'divorce-extended family'. Members are connected by divorce rather than marriage, with key members usually being female and may include: former in-laws (mother and daughter-in-law), or a man's ex-wife and his new partner.
Although not mentioned in her study, here is an example of a person with a divorce-extended family: Pam Gamma married young, then divorced and cohabited for several years before re-marrying. Her second husband had also been married before. By the time her children from her first marriage were in their 20s, she had formed a divorce-extended family with Shirley, the woman cohabiting with her first husband. They helped each other financially and domestically, for example by exchanging lodgers in response to the changing needs of their households. |
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Jean Baudrillard (2001)
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This postmodernist sociologist stated that we have 'pick n' mix identities'. This is because we are no longer constrained to fulfil identities because of class, ethnicity, or gender alone. We can pick and mix between these factors as well as matching the diversity we see in society (due to globalisation) and draw identities from across the globe. |
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Carol Smart (2007)
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This sociologist focuses on the personal life perspective, defining the 'Connectedness Thesis': -Memory: emotional memories create bonds between those involved. -Biography: our life history and the pathways we have taken. -Embeddedness: the strength of our connections with others. -Relationality: how well we get on with that person. -Imaginary: our subjective interpretation of the relationship, how important it is to us.
The connectedness thesis disagrees with the individualisation thesis as: -Individualisation and personal choice are not available to everyone. -Social class and gender structures still influence us - for example, women's choices are limited by social expectations about domestic labour and children. -She says that the individualisation thesis exaggerates the choices that people have (with regards to factors like social class, gender and ethnicity), and that people's personal lives and family ties still involve strong social and emotional bonds and connections. -She thinks the individualisation thesis also exaggerates the extent of family decline. -She argues the view of contemporary family life by individualisation theorists is not based on any actual research into contemporary family life, and is unrepresentative.
She also argues: -The sociology of the family is ethnocentric - focused mainly on the white middle-class family. -People can develop meaningful relationships with those outside the family, such as friends. -Family are not necessarily more important than friends and as a consequence, people can choose their support networks or families of choice. |
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Zygmunt Bauman (2000, 2003)
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This postmodernist sociologist stated that a postmodern society is like a shopping mall, in other words, 'you are what you buy' (although he didn't actually say this). He argues that consumer culture helps to shape individual identities. As well as this, in 2003, he also argues that in this world of growing individualisation, uncertainty and constant change, kinship networks are frail and human bonds are weak, and people are constantly searching for security. This involves exploring new ways of living their personal lives, leading to the growth in a wide diversity of family and personal living arrangements. |
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Beck & Beck-Gernsheim (1995)
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These postmodernist sociologists suggest, that in an individualised world which is more insecure and uncertain than ever before, love is the only place where people can truly find themselves, and connect with others through sharing bodies and sharing intimate thoughts and emotions, and people become engaged in a constant search for love and pure relationships.
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David Morgan (1996, 2011)
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This postmodernist sociologist argues it is pointless trying to make large-scale generalisations about 'the family' as if it were a simple thing, as functionalists do. Rather, a family is simply whatever arrangements those involved choose to call their family. In this view, sociologists should focus their attention on how people create their own diverse family lives and practices.
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