lamannaFM 3 9/17/01, 4:01 PM Understanding Families SeriesEditors: BertN.Adams,UniversityofWisconsin DavidM.Klein,UniversityofNotreDame Thisbookseriesexaminesawiderangeofsubjectsrelevanttostudyingfamilies.Topicsinclude, butarenotlimitedto,theoryandconceptualdesign,researchmethodsonthefamily,racial/ ethnicfamilies,mateselection,marriage,familypowerdynamics,parenthood,divorceandre- marriage,custodyissues,andagingfamilies. Theseriesisaimedprimarilyatscholarsworkinginfamilystudies,sociology,psychology, socialwork,ethnicstudies,genderstudies,culturalstudies,andrelatedfieldsastheyfocuson thefamily.Volumeswillalsobeusefulforgraduateandundergraduatecoursesinsociologyof thefamily,familyrelations,familyandconsumersciences,socialworkandthefamily,family psychology,familyhistory,culturalperspectivesonthefamily,andothers. BooksappearinginUnderstandingFamiliesareeithersingle-ormultiple-authoredvolumesor conciselyeditedbooksoforiginalchaptersonfocusedtopicswithinthebroadinterdisciplinary fieldofmarriageandfamily. Thebooksarereportsofsignificantresearch,innovationsinmethodology,treatisesonfam- ilytheory,synthesesofcurrentknowledgeinafamilysubfield,oradvancedtextbooks.Each volumemeetsthehighestacademicstandardsandmakesasubstantialcontributiontoourun- derstandingofmarriagesandfamilies. MultiracialCouples:BlackandWhiteVoices ReshapingFatherhood:TheSocial PaulC.Rosenblatt,TerriA.Karis,and ConstructionofSharedParenting RichardD.Powell AnnaDienhart UnderstandingLatinoFamilies: ProblemSolvinginFamilies: Scholarship,Policy,andPractice ResearchandPractice EditedbyRuthE.Zambrana SamuelVuchinich CurrentWidowhood: Myths&Realities AfricanAmericanChildren:Socialization HelenaZnanieckaLopata andDevelopmentinFamilies ShirleyA.Hill FamilyTheories: AnIntroduction DavidM.KleinandJamesM.White BlackMenandDivorce ErmaJeanLawsonandAaronThompson UnderstandingDifferencesBetween DivorcedandIntactFamilies RomancingtheHoneymoon: RonaldL.SimonsandAssociates ConsummatingMarriageinModernSociety KrisBulcroft,LindaSmeins, Adolescents,Work,andFamily:An andRichardBulcroft IntergenerationalDevelopmentalAnalysis JeylanT.MortimerandMichaelD.Finch TheChangingTransitiontoAdulthood: LeavingandReturningHome FamiliesandTime:KeepingPaceina FrancesGoldscheiderand HurriedCulture CalvinGoldscheider KerryJ.Daly FamiliesandCommunes:AnExamination NoMoreKin: ExploringRace,Class, ofNontraditionalLifestyles andGenderinFamilyNetworks WilliamL.Smith AnneR.Roschelle Women,Work,andFamily: ContemporaryParenting: BalancingandWeaving ChallengesandIssues AngelaHattery EditedbyTerryArendell EmileDurkheimontheFamily FamiliesMakingSenseofDeath MaryAnnLamanna JaniceWinchesterNadeau BlackFamiliesinCorporateAmerica SusanD.Toliver Mary Ann Lamanna University of Nebraska at Omaha Emile Durkheim on the Family lamannaFM 1 9/17/01, 4:01 PM Copyright © 2002 by Sage Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any infor- mation storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. For information: Sage Publications, Inc. 2455 Teller Road Thousand Oaks, California 91320 E-mail: [email protected] Sage Publications Ltd. 6 Bonhill Street London EC2A 4PU United Kingdom Sage Publications India Pvt. Ltd. M-32 Market Greater Kailash I New Delhi 110 048 India Printed in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Lamanna, Mary Ann. Emile Durkheim on the family / by Mary Ann Lamanna. p. cm. — (Understanding families; v. 20) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-7619-1206-1 (c) — ISBN 0-7619-1207-X (p) 1. Durkheim, Emile, 1858-1917. 2. Family. I. Title. II. Series. HQ518.L35 2001 306.85—dc21 2001002980 01 02 03 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Acquiring Editor: Jim Brace-Thompson Editorial Assistant: Karen Ehrmann Production Editor: Diana E. Axelsen Editorial Assistant: Kathryn Journey Copy Editor: Marilyn Power Scott Typesetter/Designer: Doreen Barnes Indexer: Mary Mortensen Cover Designer: Michelle Lee lamannaFM 4 9/14/01, 2:37 PM Contents Preface xi 1. Introduction 1 The Invisibility of Durkheim’s Sociology of the Family 2 Durkheim’s Interest in the Family 4 Durkheim’s Life and Career 6 Social Origins 6 Education 8 Academic Career 10 Durkheim’s “Beau Mariage” 11 Sociology Established 13 The Année School 14 Intellectual Protagonists 15 Father and Mentor: Death From a Broken Heart 17 Conclusion: A Life Both Marginal and Mainstream 17 The Times 18 The Third Republic and Its Challengers 18 Law Reform in France 21 Durkheim on the Family 27 Purpose and Organization of the Book 28 New Durkheimian Themes 29 lamannaFM 5 9/14/01, 2:37 PM 2. The Origins and Evolution of the Family 39 Science and the Study of Society 39 The Evolutionary Debates 41 An Evolutionary Theory of the Family 43 The Nature of the Family 44 Stages of Evolution of the Family 46 Prime Mover: The Engine of Family Change 52 The End of Evolution? 56 Commentary and Critique 58 As Evolutionary Theories Go ... 58 Durkheim and Twentieth-Century Family Theory 61 The Merits of the Master 62 Conclusion 62 3. Studying the Family 67 The Science of Sociology 68 The Comparative Method 69 Ethnography 70 History 72 Law 73 The Family of the Civil Code 74 Family Practices, Custom, and Law 75 Moral Statistics 77 Commentary and Critique 79 4. The Family System: Kin, Conjugal Family, and the State 83 Elements of the Family System 83 Mapping the System 85 Gender 86 The Changing Family System 86 Kinship 87 Zones of Kinship 88 Family Communism 88 Fictive Kinship 91 The Politics of Kinship 92 The State 93 The Conjugal Family 95 Husbands and Wives 95 Parents and Children 96 Siblings 97 The Lens of Later Times 97 Centrality of the Couple 97 The Decline of Kinship 98 lamannaFM 6 9/14/01, 2:37 PM The Family Economy in Law 100 Property and Persons 102 Family in Law and Family in Fact 103 Theoretical Affinities 104 Durkheim and Parsons 104 Systems Theory 105 Conclusion 109 5. The Interior of the Family 113 Solidarity 114 Domesticity 116 Affectivity 117 Gender 120 The Familial Division of Labor 120 Exchange Theory 121 Conflict Theory 122 Socialization 123 Family, School, and State as Agents of Socialization 123 Discipline and Autonomy 124 Internalization 126 Individuality 126 Solidarity Again 127 Subject to Debate 129 Solidarity 129 Exchange 130 Socialization 131 The Future of the Family 132 Conclusion 132 6. Family Problems, Public Policy, and Social Justice 135 Durkheim on Family Policy 135 Sociologists in Action 136 Viewpoints on Policy 137 Turn-of-the-Twentieth-Century Family Problems 138 Divorce 138 Cohabitation and Nonmarital Births 143 Free Union 143 Fertility and Household Size 147 Equality and Social Justice 151 Family Policy and Social Values 152 Science, Morality, and Policy 153 Family Policy Issues Today 154 Conclusion 159 lamannaFM 7 9/14/01, 2:37 PM 7. Women and Sex: Challenges to the Family Order 163 Introduction 164 Feminism in France 165 Durkheim’s Venues 167 Durkheim and Marianne Weber 169 A Contradictory Theory of Gender 171 The Facts, Just the Facts 172 The Equality Principle and the Privileged Woman 173 Family Unity and Female Autonomy 174 Structural Differentiation 176 Biological Difference or Social Construction? 180 Cultural Leadership: Contradictions Resolved? 181 This Will Pass 183 In Sum: Solidarity, Equality, and the Division of Labor 184 The Late-Twentieth-Century Debate About Durkheim 184 Critical Perspectives 185 Dimensions of Gender 186 Was Durkheim Antifeminist? 186 Durkheim’s Gender Theory in Our Time 189 Women’s Equality 189 Domesticity and Gender Roles 190 Social Control of Men 192 Men’s Roles in the Family 192 Sexuality and Sexual Relations 193 Sex and Society 193 Sex, Passion, and Marriage 194 Sex and Creativity 196 Sex, Science, and Morality 196 Sex and Gender 197 Sexual Orientation 197 Conclusion 198 8. Conclusion 203 Why Read Durkheim? 203 Inattention to Durkheim’s Sociology of the Family—Why? 204 Historicism and Systematics 206 Summary of Chapters 207 Durkheim’s Contributions 209 A Sociology of the Family 209 A Science of Society 210 A Normative Model of the Family 210 Evolutionary Theory and Social Change 211 Structure-Functional Theory 211 Exchange and Conflict Theories 213 The Conjugal Family 214 lamannaFM 8 9/14/01, 2:37 PM Family Law and Policy 214 The Future of the Family 215 What Durkheim Didn’t Do 216 Kinship Relations and Mutual Aid 216 Mate Selection, Marital Adjustment, and the Family Life Cycle 217 Socialization 217 Social Psychology of Family Life 218 Family and Economy 218 Sociocultural Diversity in Family Life 219 A Broader Look 220 The Sociology of the Family and Durkheim’s Other Work 220 The Value of Durkheim’s Sociology 221 Strengths and Weaknesses 221 Dilemmas of Existence 225 Conclusion 227 References 229 Works by Durkheim 229 Works by Other Authors 235 Index 257 About the Author 271 lamannaFM 9 9/17/01, 3:55 PM