Families and Kinship in Contemporary Europe Rules and Practices of Relatedness

Instead of seeing the family as a "monolithic" entity, as though separate from its surroundings, this new approach draws attention to assemblages of various types that in different constellations and through different transactions relate people to each other as families and kin.

Riitta Jallinoja is Professor Emerita of Sociology at Helsinki University, Finland. She has published several books on family, and has co-edited with Eric D. Widmer the book Beyond the Nuclear Family: Families in a Configurational Perspective. Eric D. Widmer is Professor in the Department of Sociology, University of Geneva, Switzerland. His research interests include family and other interpersonal relationships, life course, social norms and social networks.

PART I: OUTLINING RELATEDNESS
Introduction; R.Jallinoja & E.D.Widmer
Relationality and Socio-cultural Theories of Family Life; C.Smart
PART II: ASSEMBLING FAMILIES
Making Family at Wedding: Bilateral Kinship and Equality; F. Maillochon & A-M Castrén
Christmas Celebration, an Annual Family Gathering; R.Hauri
Family Photographs: Putting Families on Display; A.Gomila
Obituaries as Family Assemblages; R.Jallinoja
PART III: SETTING UP FAMILIES WITH SIGNIFICANT OTHERS
Couple Formation as a Transition between Families; L.Bernardi & A.Oppo
Social Networks and Family Formation; S.Keim
Exclusivity and Inclusivity in Transnational Adoption; R.Högbacka
PART IV: FAMILIES IN THE REMAKING
Money and the Dynamics of Intimate Relationships; C.Ruiner, A.Hirseland & W.Schneider
Making Families at an Old Age; D.Sýkorová
Reassembling Families after Divorce; U.Zartler
Families in a Globalized World; E.Beck-Gernsheim
PART V: FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS AS SOCIAL CAPITAL
Family Relations as Social Capital; G.Rossi, R.Bonini & S.Mazzucchelli
The Fabric of Trust in Families: Inherited or Achieved?; I.De Carlo & E.D.Widmer
Afterthoughts; R.Jallinoja & E.D.Widmer
Bibliography
Index