The Changing Landscape of Work and Family in the American Middle Class: Reports from the Field

This collection explores the dynamics of the modern, middle-class American family and its near-constant state of transition. The editors introduce the book by situating it within the context of work, family, and ethnographic research on middle-class families in the United States. Emerging and established scholars contributed chapters based on their original field research, following each chapter with a personal reflection on doing field work. The volume concludes with an original essay by Kathryn Dudley, an anthropologist who has spent decades studying the intersections of work, family, and class in American culture. As a whole, the volume highlights how culture shapes family life amid shifting social and economic landscapes. The authors, working in the fields of anthropology and sociology, observed daily life at workplaces and in homes, interviewing people about their work, their children, and their ideas about what makes a good family. They report on their fieldwork in essays rich with the detail of everyday life, revealing the fascinating diversity of American middle-class families through chapters about gay co-father families, African American stay-at-home mothers, first-time fathers, rural refugees from corporate America, well-off white mothers, Taiwanese immigrant churches, the fetal ultrasound, and more. The Changing Landscape of Work and Family in the American Middle Class is an excellent text for classes in anthropology, sociology, American culture, family studies, work and family, and gender studies.

This collection of reports on different aspects of work and family ends with an essay titled "What is a Family?" Rudd, a research scientist at the University of Washington and Descartes, who teaches in the human development and family studies department at the University of Connecticut, wondered about this. Family life seems to be different from fifty years ago. More women work; more men take an active role in childcare. Some of the reports discuss how our concept of work has altered in terms of subordinating time with family to it. One looks at how telecommuting has blurred the line between home and office. Others concentrate on African-American families exploring how their experiences might differ from Caucasian Americans. Another shows the conflict in Chinese-American families between traditional family values and the fluid ones in the US. The problem of acceptance as a family of same-sex parents is also treated in this wide-ranging study. Annotation ©2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

The Changing Landscape of Work and Family in the American Middle Class explores the dynamics of the modern American family and how they have adapted to the changing economy and culture. Contributors from a variety of disciplines redefine the concept of the model American family and provide well-researched insight into what the new standards for judging family life and its functionality will be.