Product Description

How do changes in family form relate to changes in society as a whole? In a work which combines theoretical rigour with historical scope, Wally Seccombe provides a powerful study of the changing structure of families from the Middle Ages to the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. Responding to feminist critiques of 'sex-blind' historical materialism, Seccombe argues that family forms must be seen to be at the heart of modes of production. He takes issue with the mainstream consensus in family history which argues that capitalism did not fundamentally alter the structure of the nuclear family, and makes a controversial intervention in the long-standing debate over European marriage pat-terns and their relation to industrialization. Drawing on an astonishing range of studies in family history, historical demography and economic history, A Millennium of Family Change provides an integrated overview of the long transition from feudalism to capitalism, illuminating the far-reaching changes in familial relations from peasant subsistence to the making of the modern working class.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1396012 in Books
• Published on: 1995-09-13
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 354 pages

Review
"Modes of production, demography, feminist theory -- a heady mix. Seccombe's historical and comparative account of European family formation is lively and challenging, bringing together a diverse literature to build a powerful synthesis." -- Louise Tilly, New School for Social Research

About the Author
Wally Seccombe teaches sociology at Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. The second volume of this study, Weathering the Storm: Working-Class Families from the Industrial Revolution to the Fertility Decline, is also published by Verso.

Customer Reviews

Help!
The first paragraph of the introduction really got me interested, mainly because I could understand it. Three pages in, however, and we are into this kind of stuff:

"Interdependence does not imply lock-step congruence, of course. As well as functional complementarity and structural alignment, there are moments of stress and contradiction between family forms and modes of production."

I read this several times; I tried holding the book upside down. I read it to a friend who is an English lecturer - he was none the wiser.

To be fair, the book I'm reading now, about the lives of country house servants, might have the same effect on someone less literate than me, because there is a tendency as writers go up the intellectual scale to present concepts in a more condensed form. I guess it's about finding the level that suits you.

So if you have a brain the size of a planet Wally Seccombe may be just your cup of tea.