Family life in urban public spaces

Stretching the boundaries of sociological attention

Bibliographic Data

ID13009451
AuthorsVanessa May (0000-0003-1547-9352, University of Manchester, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume12
Issue1
Pages60-74
Publication date2023-01-10
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueFamilies Relationships and Societies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2046-7435 • E-ISSN: 2046-7443
PublisherPolicy Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1332/204674322x16696234868984
OpenAlexW4317435612
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited45

This article contributes to a reconceptualisation of the boundaries of sociological attention regarding where family is enacted. Despite being aware of the cultural contingency of the distinction that is drawn between the public and private spheres, family scholars in the Global North tend to study families as bounded units with an ‘inside’ and an ‘outside’, and as spatially centred in the home. I argue that there is a need to systematically explore how mundane interactions and activities in public settings are woven into family life. Furthermore, drawing from research into family life in cities, I make the case for conceptualising public spaces as aspects of and even as characters in family life, and ask how people realise their family capacities in these. I propose that keeping these different facets of family life in view both analytically and empirically could lead to a radical shake-up of sociological thinking about family

Aesthetics · Contingency · Epistemology · Family life · Social science · Sociology · Gender Studies · Intergenerational Family Dynamics and Caregiving · Psychology · Rural development and sustainability · Social Psychology · Work-Family Balance Challenges