Families are not only subject to time constraints but also produce their own sense of time. The time families live by is not the same as they live with. Historians, who have been primarily concerned with the quantitative dimension, have neglected the phenomenon that is commonly referred to as "quality time. " This article explores the origins of modem family times, paying particular attention to the rituals involved in daily, weekly, and annual family occasions. It suggests that a behavioral approach to family history is incapable of capturing the symbolic processes that have become central to modern family life, and it calls for a cultural history of family that would take into account myth, ritual, and symbol.
The globalization of the world economy since the 1970s has placed existing definitions of fatherhood under extreme pressure throughout the western world. At the high as well as at the low end of the social scale, men have found it difficult to fulfill the traditional breadwinner role. In all developed countries, there has been a growing incidence of what some have called `fatherless families' due to this and other causes. Many see this as a major crisis, requiring intervention and coercive measures. But, before we endorse these, it would be well to place this latest round of worries about `fatherlessness' in historical context and realize that the relationship between fathers and children has always been problematic.
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