Historiography of family forms. Dilemmas and crossroads

Abstract

On the basis of this scientific itinerary without any definitive conclusion,we propose to develop two questions apparently naive to the familyhistory. In what sense can we talk about the history of the family? And inwhat sense the European family, base for almost all the classic analysismodels, is different to the rest of the world? For this goal, we proposeto back to certain fundaments of history and anthropology, two of themost important fields for the social imaginary of family, to understandits encounters, and answer a set of conceptual confusions coming fromrecent works. In order to do so, we will present the question of anAmerican itinerary for the field, as well as residential arrangementsand the social organization of daily life. Moreover, we will addressseven fundamental itineraries: reaffirming the patriarchal character anddecisive impact of the capitalist economic logic on family organization;revisiting the hermeneutics of the ‘family reason’; reinterpreting familypractices as expression of a cultural system; reconsidering marriage andhousing as a problem; reorientating the new research guidelines aboutthe types and intensities of poverty and proposing an aesthetic of familyforms that historizes the social imaginary.