The American family
Subtitle: from obligation to freedom
By: David Peterson del Mar
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Published: 2011
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 211
ISBN-13: 9780230337442
Subjects: Families; HISTORY / United States / 21st Century; HISTORY / Social History; HISTORY / United States / 19th Century; HISTORY / United States / 20th Century; History
Description: "This book traces the movement from mutualism to individualism in the context of American family life. Throughout American history, families survived or even flourished during colonization, the Revolution, slavery, the industrial revolution, immigration, and economic upheaval because reliance on others was patently necessary. But in the past century, unprecedented prosperity both freed Americans from mutual dependence and created a culture devoted to the pursuit of pleasure and individual fulfilment. This shift from obligation to freedom has turned the maintenance of durable, rewarding families into a countercultural act, one that requires a conscious decision to qualify the American commitment to freedom"--