1. Sociology of the Family
May 26, 2015

2. Postmodernism Historical designation: post-industrial
Increase in globalization, decline in local industrial economies
Rejects grand narratives and universalism
Challenges Enlightenment rationality and progress
Postmodernism vs. poststructuralism
Poststructuralism challenges binary thinking as the logic to understand natural and social world

3. Families in Postmodern Context
The path to family is not universal
Feminist values are influencing marriage
Feminist values have class variation
Traditional masculinity not consolidated
Divorce is a resource, not a rupture
Stereotypes are more powerful than economic realities in shaping ideas, perspectives
Nostalgia (founded or unfounded) masks attention to social problems

4. Attachment to Nature
Nature is a dominant frame through which we narrate family ties (blood ties, biological ties)
Sociological reality of family challenges this:
-No statistically dominant form of family
-Global trend toward family diversity
-Social movements promoting family diversity have been successful
-Cultural warfare arises due to lack of consensus around family ideologies
-Diversity and variation framed as “crisis”

5. Additional Considerations/Speculation
Family politics in a post 9/11 era (Terrorist Assemblages, Jasbir Puar)
LGBT rights strides made after 9/11 – repeal of anti-sodomy laws and passage of gay marriage rights
Coincides with an overwhelming, national fear around terrorism
Social ideologies around death and dying no longer tied to the homosexual body (via AIDS and assumption of non-procreation)
Construction of homosexual good citizen against the backdrop of terror threat (death now linked to terror)

6. Discussion Question
How does popular culture capitalize on the idea of “unity in diversity?” What does this phrase presume?