1. Sociol 322: A sociology of relational life
Week 2 – connectedness thesis

2. mcDonnell How does McDonnell set up the article?
What issues is she addressing empirically and theoretically?
Can you precis her argument? Write.
What is the significance of this argument academically and for you as a reflection about personal life?

3. A history of where you’ve lived
Looking back over your lives to date, write about where you have lived, how this has come about, the moves you or your parents have made and why, what this has meant to you/your parents and the role that other relationships played in shifting (or staying put as the case might be).
Reference: Mason, Jennifer Personal narratives, relational selves: Residential histories in the living and telling. The Sociologcial Review 52 (2):
Connect to Mason.

4. Discussion What new insights have you come up with?
What issues come to the fore when you think about your own life and the life of your family? Do you have anything to contribute to our thinking about relational and personal life?
Individualisation?
Choice and decision making (relationalism)
The nature of your connections to family (embeddeness)
Emotions and memory – mutual effects
What matters in your family – the role of culture and tradition = imaginary

5. What tools could we draw on to make sense of this story?
What do we learn about by thinking about the Quins’ story?