The American Family Across the Class Divide

by Watanabe, Yasushi

• ISBN13: 9780745315522
• ISBN10: 0745315526
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-12-03
• Publisher: Pluto Press

Summary

White, middle-class Americans are one of the most understudied groups in the anthropology of the United States. This book offers the first ethnography of 'white middle-class America' from a non-native perspective. Yasushi Watanabe, a Japanese anthropologist, examines two social groups in the Boston area to reveal an intimate portrait of the 'American' family. These two groups are at opposite ends of the social spectrum in terms of religious, ethnic and class backgrounds, and in terms of cultural tastes and lifestyles. The American Family is a fascinating study of family dynamics in modern America that explores how Americans construct their social realities and cultural histories, and how modern society shapes their lived experience.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
1 Introduction	1	(27)
Scope of research	1	(2)
Setting the stage	3	(3)
Boston, or the "hub of the solar system"	6	(4)
Method of research	10	(8)
Theoretical background	18	(10)
2 The Yankee family	28	(78)
A contested society	28	(7)
The intergenerational transformation	35	(19)
Neighborhood	54	(5)
Philanthropy and social clubs	59	(5)
Kinship and friendship	64	(5)
Work	69	(5)
Tastes	74	(5)
Love and marriage	79	(6)
Divorce	85	(4)
Childrearing	89	(4)
Family life	93	(4)
Finances and inheritance	97	(9)
3 The Irish family	106	(73)
A changing society	106	(9)
A changing South Boston	115	(14)
Neighborhood	129	(15)
Work	144	(7)
Kinship and friendship	151	(6)
Taste	157	(4)
Love and marriage	161	(3)
Conjugal segregation	164	(5)
Divorce and cohabitation	169	(3)
Childrearing	172	(7)
4 Conclusion	179	(24)
Modernity and the American society and family	193	(10)
Notes	203	(11)
Bibliography	214	(10)
Index	224