The Powerful Relational Language of ‘Family’: Togetherness, Belonging and Personhood

Abstract

This article examines the notion of ‘family’ to consider how it may be understood in people's everyday lives. Certain recurrent and powerful motifs are apparent, notably themes of togetherness and belonging, in the context of a unit that the person can be ‘part of’. At the same time, there may be important variations in the meanings given to individuality and family, evoking differing understandings of the self and personhood. I consider these ideas further through globally relevant but variable cultural themes of autonomy and relationality, suggesting the term ‘social person’ as a heuristic device to distinguish the sense of ‘close‐knit selves’ that may be involved in some understandings of personhood. I argue that this version of personhood may be powerfully expressed through ‘family’ meanings, with a significance which can be at least provisionally mapped along lines of inequality and disadvantage within and between societies around the world. These forms of connectedness may be hard to grasp through those theoretical and methodological frameworks which emphasize the (relational) individual. I argue that, in affluent English speaking societies,1 there may be little alternative to the language of ‘family’ for expressing such forms of relationality and connection.

Troubling Children’s Families: Who Is Troubled and Why? Approaches to Inter-Cultural Dialogue

“…Choi and Han 2009;Oyserman et al 2002;Ribbens McCarthy 2012;Triandis 1987). These may in turn underpin differing moral perspectives -as seen with Shweder's distinction between principles of autonomy, community and divinity.…”

Representing the family: how does the state ‘think family’?

“…Smart (2007) prefers the more expressive and inclusive vocabulary of 'intimacy' and 'personal life'. Gillies (2012) andRibbens McCarthy (2012), in contrast, robustly defend the retention of family in contemporary studies.…”

Sex, Love and Security: Accounts of Distance and Commitment in Living Apart Together Relationships

“…The term commitment, like the term 'family', has been extensively examined and theorised in sociological literature and, as with 'family', commitment has considerable meaning for people in everyday life (Ribbens McCarthy, 2012). It has also made its way into political discourses on families, creating a re-emphasis on the importance of marriage (heterosexual and to some extent same-sex) (Carter, 2012).…”

“…Morgan, 1996;2011 and family practices;Jamieson, 1998;2004 and intimacy;Mason, 2004 kinship and relationality;Smart, 2007 and personal life;Duncan and Smith, 2006 on social generalisation; more recently Ribbens McCarthy, 2012;Wilson et al, 2012 and many others). There has, however, been less in the way of an alternative theoretical construct through which to examine current intimacies.…”