How Families Matter

Simply Complicated Intersections of Race, Gender, and Work

Pamela Braboy Jackson and Rashawn Ray

The family remains the most contested institution in American society. How Families Matter:
Simply Complicated Intersections of Race, Gender, and Work explores the ways adults make sense of their family lives in the midst of the complicated debates generated by politicians and social scientists. Given the rhetoric about the family, this book is a well overdue account of family life from the perspective of families themselves. The purpose of this book is to provide the reader with a whole view of different types of families. The chapters focus on contemporary issues such as who do we consider to be a part of our family, can anyone achieve family-life balance, and how do families celebrate when they get together? Relying on stories shared by a racially/ethnically diverse group of forty-six families, this book finds that parents and siblings cultivate a family identity that both defines who they are and influences who they become. It is a welcomed installment to conversations about the family, as families are finally viewed within a single study from a multicultural lens.

Lexington Books

Pages: 190 • Trim: 6¼ x 9½

978-1-4985-2256-4 • Hardback • June 2018 • $117.00 • (£90.00)

978-1-4985-2258-8 • Paperback • June 2020 • $47.99 • (£37.00)

978-1-4985-2257-1 • eBook • June 2018 • $45.50 • (£35.00)

Subjects: Social Science / Sociology / Marriage & Family, Family & Relationships / Siblings, Psychology / Developmental / Child, Social Science / Discrimination & Race Relations, Social Science / Ethnic Studies / General

How Families Matter

Simply Complicated Intersections of Race, Gender, and Work

Hardback

Paperback

eBook

Summary

The family remains the most contested institution in American society. How Families Matter:
Simply Complicated Intersections of Race, Gender, and Work explores the ways adults make sense of their family lives in the midst of the complicated debates generated by politicians and social scientists. Given the rhetoric about the family, this book is a well overdue account of family life from the perspective of families themselves. The purpose of this book is to provide the reader with a whole view of different types of families. The chapters focus on contemporary issues such as who do we consider to be a part of our family, can anyone achieve family-life balance, and how do families celebrate when they get together? Relying on stories shared by a racially/ethnically diverse group of forty-six families, this book finds that parents and siblings cultivate a family identity that both defines who they are and influences who they become. It is a welcomed installment to conversations about the family, as families are finally viewed within a single study from a multicultural lens.

Details

Lexington Books

Pages: 190 • Trim: 6¼ x 9½

978-1-4985-2256-4 • Hardback • June 2018 • $117.00 • (£90.00)

978-1-4985-2258-8 • Paperback • June 2020 • $47.99 • (£37.00)

978-1-4985-2257-1 • eBook • June 2018 • $45.50 • (£35.00)

Subjects: Social Science / Sociology / Marriage & Family, Family & Relationships / Siblings, Psychology / Developmental / Child, Social Science / Discrimination & Race Relations, Social Science / Ethnic Studies / General

Author

Pamela Braboy Jackson is professor of sociology at Indiana University, Bloomington.
Rashawn Ray is associate professor of sociology at the University of Maryland.

Table of Contents

Introduction: The Family
1. Who is Family?
2. Why Split the Family?
3. When is Family and Work Balanced?
4. What is Family Togetherness?
Epilogue

Reviews

This beautifully written book captures the incredible complexity of American families by showcasing the real-life stories of individuals in families. It is sure to become a classic in the finest tradition of richly-textured sociological research on families.
— Debra Umberson, University of Texas

How Families Matter is a critical exploration of contemporary family life that informs the ongoing family decline-resilience debate. In embracing the demographic reality that families have become more complex, it offers us a practical and refreshing look into how real people ‘do family.’ To do so, How Families Matter uses theory and the extant academic literature as a canvas upon which it paints vibrant pictures featuring first person accounts of family life from respondents of over 100 qualitative interviews. In sum, How Families Matter makes a unique contribution to the field of family studies and should be on the reading lists of students, researchers, practitioners, and policymakers alike.
— Armon R. Perry, University of Louisville

An intimate journey with Jackson and Ray, who tell the stories of families through the lens of identity. Race, gender, and class intersect as family members negotiate work and family, and reunite in times of celebration and crisis. An ambitious sociological analysis of real families today. Spirited and triumphant.
— Susan E. Short, Brown University