The Family in America: Searching for Social Harmony in the Industrial Age

The Family in America offers a fresh interpretation of American social history, emphasizing the vital role of the family and household autonomy and threats to both imposed by industrial organization and the state. Allan Carlson shows that the United States, rather than being "born modern" as a progressive consumerist society, was in fact founded as an agrarian society composed of independent households rooted in land, lineage, and hierarchy. Carlson argues that family survival continues to be of paramount importance today. He critically examines five distinct strategies to restore a foundation for family life in industrial society, drawing on the insights of Frederic LePlay, Carle Zimmerman, and G. K. Chesterton. Carlson shows that family survival depends on the creation of meaningful, "pre-modern" household economies. This new edition includes an introduction by Allan Carlson, detailing the continued press of the industrial process onto the American family structure since initial publication of the book in 1993. "This book is full of fascinating and little-known facts. I am sure this book will be eagerly read by those interested in the social history of the last two hundred years and its effects on the family."--Thomas Storck, Caelum et Terra "Allan Carlson, in this well researched and clearly laid out book, offers an analysis of American social history. His book is valuable to anyone interested in the erosion of our most basic social unit. The American family is, indeed, in trouble. Carlson tells us why."--George Neumayr, National Catholic Register "Allan Carlson is a real treasure: an independent thinker, the genuine article. This is a brave and powerful book: a gimlet-eyed analysis with the force of a jeremiad."--William Kauffman, author, Every Man a King Allan Carlson is president of the Howard Center for Family, Religion, and Society in Rockford, Illinois, and director of the Family in America Studies Center. He has been a consultant to the U.S. Departments of Justice, Education, and Health and Human Services, the Institute of Medicine, the National Academy of Sciences, and the Kansas Crime Prevention Commission. He is the author of The New Agrarian Mind, The Swedish Experiment in Family Politics, and Family Questions: Reflections on the American Social Crisis, all available from Transaction.

Allan Carlson is president of the Howard Center for Family, Religion, and Society in Rockford, Illinois, and director of the Family in America Studies Center.