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The Anti-Social Family

Mary McIntosh author Michèle Barrett author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Verso Books

Publishing:4th Mar '25

£16.99

This title is due to be published on 4th March, and will be despatched as soon as possible.

The Anti-Social Family cover

Why we need to break free from the persistent tyranny of the nuclear family

The stereotypical nuclear family is in the minority of households, yet remains a powerful ideology. This classic of socialist feminism charts how the family reinforces conditions of inequality, and asks: Why does the family enjoy such popular support, including by feminists and the left? Despite its many problems, The Anti-social Family answers, the family meets real needs. These needs must be taken seriously, and alter-native ways to meet them developed, giving people more choices and collectively taking on the work and responsibilities currently privatised within the family.

Barrett and McIntosh incisively question the standard marxist (and mainstream) claims that (1) the nuclear family is suited to the functional requirements of the capitalist mode of production, and (2) the family has declined and much of its work is now undertaken by the state. * The Women's Review of Books *
Michele Barrett and Mary McIntosh have written an extremely brave, and with the benefit of hindsight, what must appear to be a very daring critique of the family. * Sociology *

ISBN: 9781804299593

Dimensions: 198mm x 129mm x 11mm

Weight: 147g

176 pages