1 / 18

The Family and Social Order August 30, 2004

The Family and Social Order August 30, 2004. Contribution of the family to social order. Primordial social organization Constructed social organization. Social Transformation. 2 revolutions disrupt primordial social organization:

sheam
Download Presentation

The Family and Social Order August 30, 2004

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. The Family and Social OrderAugust 30, 2004

  2. Contribution of the family to social order • Primordial social organization • Constructed social organization

  3. Social Transformation • 2 revolutions disrupt primordial social organization: • French Revolution challenges patrimonial social relations – ‘declaration of the rights of man’ -- and supplants them with more bureaucratic norms. • Industrial revolution transforms economy from weakly interdependent households to one in which most production occurs in factories.

  4. Social Transformation • One of the central issues in this transformation centers around child-rearing. The strength of the family has declined because many of its traditional functions – like childcare, education, and employment – have moved beyond its boundaries.

  5. From preindustrial to industrial society • In preindustrial societies, the flow of wealth is from the young to the old; in industrial societies the flow is reversed. • The increased prevalence of divorce also leads to the relative abandonment of children socially (latchkey kids) and psychologically

  6. State interest in children • The state, however, has an interest in maximizing the child’s value to society or minimizing its cost. The costs of undeveloped human capital accrue to governments • Costs of schooling, crime and welfare payments, medical costs associated with alcohol and drug use, etc.

  7. Resilience of the Italian family • Ginsborg and other commentators observe that the Italian family has resisted many of these effects. Here are some of the relevant comparative data: • Divorce is less than 1%, whereas the EU is 2% and the U.S. is 4.2 (per 1000; Eurostat data, 2004)

  8. Some empirical data Births outside of marriage EU = 30% US = 33 Italy = 10 (Eurostat data, 2004) Percentage who see their mother every day Italy = 63% Spain = 59 Germ = 26 UK = 19 US = 15

  9. Uniqueness of Italy • Italy is unusual in two respects: • Very short period of industrialization, although it has an advanced economy. • Also led to niche capitalism which, in Italy, was also based on family firms.

  10. Some empirical data Share of the labor force in industry by size of firm in the 1990s Number of employees 1-9 (Zamagni, in McCarthy 2000: 56) Italy 23.3 Germany 7.4 France 8.1 UK 7.2 US 3.0

  11. Trust and coordination • How does this work in an economically efficient way? • Trust – based on community and family and neighborhood ties – keeps transactions costs low. • Coordination is informal through personal relations

  12. Delayed adulthood • Delayed adulthood • Young Italians are considerably more likely to live with their parents than their Northern European or US counterparts.

  13. A modern Italian family • Economic structure reinforces family ties and contributes to social order.

  14. Family and social order • What difference does a strong family organization make for social order at the societal level? • One of the usual measures of social order, or lack thereof, is the general crime rate. • Consider these comparative data: Italy 38 per 1000 France 63 per 1000 Germany 76 per 1000 US 82 per 1000 UK 86 per 1000

  15. Family and the State • Intrusiveness of the modern state in family life has had many implications for social order. • What implications does a strong family structure have for a modern state?

More Related