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The Palgrave Handbook of Family Sociology in Europe

Palgrave Macmillan
  • Offers a touchstone collection of theories, methodologies, and case studies that foreground the specific sociological contexts and contributions of the sociology of the family in Europe
  • Provides a historical overview of the development of family research in Europe
  • Deals with contemporary and pressing issues, including declining fertility, ageing, migration, changing intimate and family relations, changing legal frameworks, and intimate lives

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Table of contents (33 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xxiii
  2. Introduction

    • Isabella Crespi, Vida Česnuitytė, Katarzyna Suwada, Anna-Maija Castrén, Claude Martin, Jacques-Antoine Gauthier et al.
    Pages 1-11
  3. Researching Families and Intimate Lives in Europe: Theoretical and Methodological Trends

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 13-13
    2. Gender, Social Class, and Family Relations in Different Life Stages in Europe

      • Bernardo Coelho, Diana Maciel, Anália Torres
      Pages 45-67
    3. Family Demography and Values in Europe: Continuity and Change

      • Detlev Lück, Kerstin Ruckdeschel, Anna Dechant, Norbert F. Schneider
      Pages 85-106
    4. Visual Family Research Methods

      • Irena Emilija Juozeliūnienė
      Pages 133-156
  4. Welfare State and Family Policy Regimes in Europe

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 157-157
    2. Family Transformations and Sub-replacement Fertility in Europe

      • Irena E. Kotowska, Monika Mynarska, Anne H. Gauthier
      Pages 159-177
    3. Reexamining Degenderisation: Changes in Family Policies in Europe

      • Steven Saxonberg, Dorota Szelewa
      Pages 179-204
    4. Familialisation of Care in European Societies: Between Family and the State

      • Agnieszka Furmańska-Maruszak, Katarzyna Suwada
      Pages 205-221
    5. Family, Poverty, and Social Policy Interventions

      • Ryszard Szarfenberg
      Pages 239-256
  5. Families as Relationships

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 257-257
    2. Redefining the Boundaries of Family and Personal Relationships

      • Rita Gouveia, Anna-Maija Castrén
      Pages 259-277
    3. Sibling Relationships: Being Connected and Related

      • Eva Gulløv, Ida Wentzel Winther
      Pages 301-319

About this book

This handbook provides a meaningful overview of topical themes within family sociology as an academic field as well as empirical realities in various societal contexts across Europe. More than sixty prominent European scholars’ original texts present the field’s main theoretical and methodological approaches in addition to issues such as families as relationships, parental arrangements, parenting practices and child well-being, family policies in welfare state regimes, family lives in migration, and family trajectories. Presenting cutting-edge research on findings, theoretical interpretations, and solutions to methodological challenges, it is a timely tool for researchers, teachers, students, and family practitioners who wish to familiarise themselves with the state of family sociology in Europe.

Reviews

"Skillfully crafted around a diversity of concepts, theories, and methods, this handbook represents a wealth of knowledge on family change in twenty-first century Europe. It is a tribute to years of research, debate, and cross-country networking at the European Sociological Association and beyond. In thought-provoking and comprehensive contributions, European family sociologists invite us to explore the changing terrain of family and intimate lives in terms of relationships, proximity, gender, care, parenting, fertility, inequalities, migration, life course and family policy."
Karin Wall, Research Professor, ICS Institute of Social Sciences, University of Lisbon, Portugal

"The handbook provides an excellent blend of reassessment and reflection on what we know and how we know about families and intimate lives in Europe. Critical overviews and new insights are offered across a carefully chosen range of starting points."
Lynn Jamieson, Professor of Sociology, University of Edinburgh, UK, and series editor for Palgrave Macmillan Studies in Family and Intimate Life


"This handbook is an excellent compendium of recent scholarship on the sociology of the family by European scholars. It will be a valuable resource for American scholars who wish to keep up with the best research in Europe."
Andrew Cherlin, Professor of Sociology and Public Policy, Johns Hopkins University, USA



Editors and Affiliations

  • Department of Social Sciences, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland

    Anna-Maija Castrén

  • Faculty of Human and Social Studies, Mykolas Romeris University, Vilnius, Lithuania

    Vida Česnuitytė

  • Department of Education, Cultural Heritage and Tourism, University of Macerata, Macerata, Italy

    Isabella Crespi

  • University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Jacques-Antoine Gauthier

  • Institute of Social Sciences, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal

    Rita Gouveia

  • EHESP, CNRS (National Centre of Scientific Research), Rennes, France

    Claude Martin

  • Campus María Zambrano, University of Valladolid, Segovia, Spain

    Almudena Moreno Mínguez

  • Institute of Sociology, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Toruń, Poland

    Katarzyna Suwada

About the editors

Anna-Maija Castrén is Associate Professor of Sociology at University of Eastern Finland, Finland.

Vida Česnuitytė is Associate Professor of Sociology at Mykolas Romeris University, Lithuania.

Isabella Crespi is Associate Professor of Cultural Sociology at University of Macerata, Italy.

Jacques-Antoine Gauthier is Senior Lecturer in the Life Course and Inequality Research Centre at University of Lausanne, Switzerland.

Rita Gouveia is Post-Doctoral Researcher in Family Sociology in the Institute of Social Sciences of the University of Lisbon, Portugal.

Claude Martin is Research Professor in the National Centre for Scientific Research at University of Rennes, France.

Almudena Moreno Mínguez is Professor of Sociology at University of Valladolid, Spain.

Katarzyna Suwada is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Nicolaus Copernicus University, Poland.

Bibliographic Information

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 219.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 279.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 279.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access