A Millennium Of Family Change

How do changes in family form relate to changes in society as a whole? In a work which combines theoretical rigour with historical scope, Wally Seccombe provides a powerful study of the changing structure of families from the Middle Ages to the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. Responding to feminist critiques of ‘sex-blind’ historical materialism, Seccombe argues that family forms must be seen to be at the heart of modes of production. He takes issue with the mainstream consensus in family history which argues that capitalism did not fundamentally alter the structure of the nuclear family, and makes a controversial intervention in the long-standing debate over European marriage patterns and their relation to industrialization. Drawing on an astonishing range of studies in family history, historical demography and economic history, A Millennium of Family Change provides an integrated overview of the long transition from feudalism to capitalism, illuminating the far-reaching changes in familial relations from peasant subsistence to the making of the modern working class.

A review of debates about the biological origins of the nuclear family and gender roles.

In this challenging sequel to A Millennium of Family Change Wally Seccombe examines in detail the ways in which large-scale economic changes shape the microcosm of personal life.

Interrogates the normative heterosexual family from feminist, Jewish, and queer perspectives.

The penultimate volume in this series explores the effect that industrialisation, new technology, the growth of cities, and the revolutions in transport and in communication had on the family between 1789 and 1913.

In Food and Love, Jack Goody surveys phenomena as diverse as the uniqueness of the European family, the development of romantic love, the evolution of national and regional cuisines, and the globalization of Chinese food, effortlessly incorporating fascinating examples ranging from Europe to Asia and Africa. Throughout the book, Goody shows that the ethnocentricity of much of Western scholarship has distorted not only the comprehension of the East but also of developments in Europe's past and present.