Summary
Contents
Subject index
In this book, one of the foremost sociologists of the present day, turns his gaze upon the key figures and seminal institutions in the rise of sociology. Turner examines the work of Karl Marx, Max Weber, Karl Mannheim, Georg Simmel, Emile Durkheim and Talcott Parsons to produce a rich and authoritative perspective on the classical tradition. He argues that classical sociology has developed on many fronts, including debates on the family, religion, the city, social stratification, generations and citizenship. The book defends classical perspectives as a living tradition for understanding contemporary social life and demonstrates how the classical tradition produces an agenda for contemporary sociology.
The Sociology and Anthropology of the Family
The Sociology and Anthropology of the Family
Introduction: Defining the Family
The family, which in this chapter is employed as an abbreviation to cover the entire discussion of family organizations, kinship relations, domestic or household structures and friendship networks, is a fundamental and complex component of all human societies. The family is obviously concerned with the organization of sexual relations and the reproduction of the human species through the processes of (legitimate) mating and procreation, but its functions also extend to the organization of economic production, the social division of labour, the (re)distribution of property, the transfer of culture, the training (or socialization) of children and the provision of personal services such as the care of the elderly. The family ...
- Loading...
