Family Policy.

Pierpaolo Donati

Family Policy.

A Relational Approach

The book proposes a new way of looking at the family and family policy in the context of a society that is in the process of globalization. It seeks to review the relations between families and public policies from the viewpoint of relational sociology. This viewpoint is ‘differential’, that is it highlights what makes a difference in building family relations in one way or another.

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Pages: 144

ISBN: 9788856876499

Edizione:1a edizione 2012

Publisher code: 1534.3.9

Can print: No

Can Copy: No

Can annotate: Sì

Format: PDF con DRM for Digital Editions

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The purpose of this book is to propose a new way of looking at the family and family policy in the context of a society that is in the process of globalization. It aims above all at challenging the prevailing way in which family public policy is understood and practiced worldwide today, that is what Donati calls the lib-lab configuration. Empirical research has shown that family policies today are involved in a number of vicious cycles that generate more problems than they solve and in some cases lead to total policy failure. The book presents alternatives to the ways in which the family is considered and treated today. It seeks to review the relations between families and public policies from the viewpoint of relational sociology. This viewpoint is 'differential', that is it highlights what makes a difference in building family relations in one way or another. The originality of this volume rests in its analysis of the present situation, its challenge to current public policies and the proposals of new directions towards a relational configuration that Donati calls societal, plural and subsidiary family policies. Approaching the topic from the family's point of view, the book operates through employing relational distinctions, highlighting the differences, that are hidden in the field observed, often unexpressed in the face of a colonizing assumption that the family is the mere product of society.

Pierpaolo Donati is Professor of Sociology at the University of Bologna (Italy). Past-President of the Italian Sociological Association, he has served for many years as scientific Director of the National Observatory on the Family of the Italian Government. He is known as the founder of an original "relational theory of society" or "relational sociology". Among his works (100 books and 700 essays): Repensar la sociedad. El enfoque relacional, EIU, Madrid, 2006; Manual de Sociología de la Familia, Eunsa, Pamplona, 2007; La matrice teologica della società, Rubbettino, Soveria Mannelli, 2010; Relational Sociology. A New Paradigm for the Social Sciences, Routledge, London and New York, 2011.

Contents:
Introduction. Family policy from a "differential" viewpoint
(The issues and the goal of the book; A critical perspective on the current approaches to family policies; The alternatives put forward by my point of view; The common thread of the book)
The New Citizenship of the Family
(The problem: modern society's ambivalent attitude towards the family; Rethinking the central role of the family; Relevance or irrelevance (difference or indifference) of the family to the development of civilization?; Social policy directions, reviewed from their vision of the family/society relationship; The family is a social subject requiring its own citizenship; New social policies: choosing the family as a basis for a new model for quality of life; Summary)
Fundamental Principles of Family Policy
(The problem: what are the principles that currently inspire family policy? Crises and new directions; The models of family policy inherited from the 20 th century: their characteristics and results; How to redefine family policy? Three crucial questions; Prospects of a new relational model; Summary: new foundations for family policies)
How May the Family Be a Social Subject?
(The topic; What does it mean today to say that the family is a social subject; Towards a society that promotes "family welfare"?; The ambivalence of the present social policies; The social subjectivity of the family as a culture and as public policy; Summary: difficulties and promises of a new social subjectivity of the family)
Subsidiarity and Intergenerational Solidarity: Guidelines for Family Policy
(The crisis of solidarity among generations: the issue and the theses; Which generations and what kind of solidarity are we talking about here? Certain common misunderstandings; The ways social policy deals with the problem of intergenerational solidarity: old and new models; The role of the family in mediating exchanges between the generations; Summary and prospects for the future: the creation of a new system of institutions based on subsidiarity and intergenerational solidarity)
References.

Serie: Sociologia, cambiamento e politica sociale

Subjects: Policies and Social Services

Level: Textbooks

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