ASM4330

Sociology of the family

(ART)

Ulla Svensson

12 points + 2 hours per week + First semester + Clayton

Synopsis: How social, political and economic forces structure private domestic life. Topics include the politicisation of the family and family reform movements, a comparison of family forms and family policies in capitalist and socialist societies, family forms and personality construction, the social construction of parenthood and childhood, the family as a site of gender struggles. Different theoretical explanations within the Marxist, feminist, functionalist and psychoanalytic perspectives.

Assessment: Essay (4500 words): 50% + Book review (2500 words): 30% + Seminar paper and presentation (2000 words): 20%