Sociology of Personal Life. (2011)

• Record Type: Book
• Other Names: May, Vanessa
• Contents: Cover; Contents; List of Tables, Figures and Boxes; Notes on Contributors; Acknowledgements; 1 Introducing a Sociology of Personal Life; What is ' personal life'?; What is sociological about personal life?; Some illustrations of personal life in sociology; The 'personal' is relational; Personal life is socially constructed; The chapters; 2 Conceptualizing the Personal; Introduction; Is 'the personal' socially constructed?; A digression: persons and selves; Personal practices; Concluding remarks; Questions for discussion; 3 Personal Life in the Past. Introduction: the 'facts of life' (or what the great-great-great-great-grandparents got up to)Beneath the sheets: documenting sexual activity; The weight of numbers: the North-West European marriage pattern; A sexual revolution: the first demographic transition; How many children shall we have? Birth control and family planning; Concluding remarks; Questions for discussion; 4 Close Relationships and Personal Life; Introduction; Love and emotions; Marriage and cohabitation; Divorce and separation; Solo living and 'living apart together' (LAT); Concluding remarks; Questions for discussion. 5 'Marriage' and the Personal Life of Same-Sex CouplesIntroduction; Sexualities and heteronormativity; Campaigning for 'partnership rights'; The debates about same-sex marriage; New forms of intimacies; The 'closet'; Being married; (In) visibility in heterosexualized spaces; Concluding remarks; Questions for discussion; 6 What It Means to be Related; Introduction; Are relatives less important than they used to be?; Who are our relatives?; Concluding remarks; Questions for discussion; 7 Friendship and Personal Life; Introduction; Defining friendship; New technologies of friendship. Social change and the significance of friendshipThe social patterning of friendship and the limits of choice; Friendship as the ideal relationship?; The darker side of friendship; Concluding remarks; Questions for discussion; 8 Pets and Personal Life; Introduction; Thinking about animals, humans and pets; Pets in social context; Pets in the twenty-first century; Pets in a consumer society?; Pets replacing people?; Evaluating arguments about contemporary relations with pets; Rethinking the animal-human boundary?; Pets as 'part of the family'; Concluding remarks; Questions for discussion. 9 Children's Personal LivesIntroduction; Sociology and childhood; The 'new' sociology of childhood; Children's families and kinship; Minority ethnic childhoods; Children and public space; Concluding remarks; Questions for discussion; 10 Personal Life in Public Spaces; Introduction; What is 'public' space and whose is it?; What goes on in public space?; The importance of strangers and acquaintances; The importance of knowing how to (inter)act; Public interactions with friends and family; The meaning of place; Concluding remarks; Questions for discussion; 11 Are We Running Out of Time?
• Publisher Details: Place of publication not identified : Palgrave Macmillan
• Publication Date: 2011
• Extent: 1 online resource
• Subjects: 301; General; Social exchange; Families; Couples; Friendship -- Sociological aspects; Interpersonal relations; Social exchange; Individualism; Couples; Families; Friendship -- Sociological aspects; Individualism; Interpersonal relations; Social exchange; SOCIAL SCIENCE / Anthropology / General; SOCIAL SCIENCE / Regional Studies; SOCIAL SCIENCE / Sociology / General; Sociology/General; Sociology: family & relationships; Electronic books
• Languages: English
• ISBNs: 0230344216; 9780230344211
• Related ISBNs: 9780230278967; 0230278965; 9780230278974; 0230278973
• Notes: Note: Includes bibliographical references (pages 179-193) and index.; Note: Print version record.
• Access Rights: Legal Deposit; Only available on premises controlled by the deposit library and to one user at any one time; The Legal Deposit Libraries (Non-Print Works) Regulations (UK).
• Access Usage: Restricted: Printing from this resource is governed by The Legal Deposit Libraries (Non-Print Works) Regulations (UK) and UK copyright law currently in force.