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Book
ReviewFamilies,
Welfare Systems and `Third Way' ContradictionsAnalysing families: morality and rationality
in policy and practice. Alan Carling, Simon Duncan and Rosalind Edwards,
editors, 2002. London: Routledge; ISBN 0415250404, 303 pp., £22.99, paper
SAGE Publications, Inc.2006DOI: 10.1177/09675507060140020502
Carole Ulanowsky
The Open University
A central
aim of this book is to offer a clear analysis of the social processes underlying
the purpose and function of present-day families. Another is to present a
critique of `third way' politics regarding the inappropriateness of this philosophy
for families, due to what the authors' declare is a `grave rational- ity mistake'.
The book describes a situation of policies failing to achieve planned outcomes
because they have failed to grasp the normative and moral purposes, dilemmas,
and individual needs of real people, living real lives. Women's needs and
purposes are particularly misunderstood and disregarded, especially in the
way they are meant to interpret their role as mothers. In this vein, perspectives
from UK society are presented alongside studies from a number of other western
democracies, including the USA. There are also con- tributions from writers
on the subject of `elective families', where individuals form permanent relationships
outside `traditional/biological norms'. The book is an adventurous enterprise.
Its many contributions offer a comprehen- sive overview of family contexts
and family structures within current western society. In common with current
literature, we are alerted to an increasing separating out of the legal assumptions
of `copulation, co-residence and co- parenthood', without these being replaced
by any other dominant form. Following the lengthy introduction, the chapters
in Part Two provide a range of perspectives on family policy, each with an
analysis of the under- lying assumptions of government intervention in family
life, especially in the UK, but in other western countries also. Notions of
the family as a `sociological myth' at times become somewhat overstated, whereas
the use of the definite article with this concept may perhaps not be, given
the current range and variety in family formation. In Part Three, family types
and practices are examined through a range of sociological perspectives, whereas
in Part Four, the writers approach the topic from the economic viewpoint.
These writers are in broad agreement with the other disciplines represented
in the book, arguing that individuals often reject the theoreti- cal notion
of `rational choice' in the idiosyncratic ways they choose to live their lives.
For this reason, there is a fruitlessness in government `rigging the costs
and benefits' to get people involved in initiatives like New Deal, when such
policies are built on an incomplete grasp of reality. Third Way policy initiatives
are further critiqued as contradictory and illogical – for example,
when these claim to be `non-judgemental' in their acknowledgement of a diversity
of family structures, at the same time, promoting `desirable structures',
such as married parenthood (1998 Government Green Paper, Supporting Families).
Returning to the main
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theme,
several contributors note that people's real lives are, overall, an interplay
between welfare systems and personal choice – and this is determined
by an intermix of life context, culture, social norms, educa- tional level,
moral commitments and aspirations. In summary, core sections of the book address
the naivety of policies founded on a belief in people's `rational choice assumptions',
when life paths and priorities are infinitely more complex than any theory
dreamed up by politicians. To provide a historical perspective, the book includes
a clear account of how the UK has witnessed a pendulum swing in family policy
across the second half of the twentieth century – being quite prescriptive
up to the 1970s, neutral for the next two decades, then, during the 1990s
having an inclination towards being more directive, especially in relation
to contexts for bringing up children. However, this is in contrast with tax
and benefit policies which have inclined towards neutrality. Liberal/laissez
faire versus conservative/paternalistic tensions in family policy both here
and across the Atlantic are explored in detail, especially in Part Two. Just
a word about the book's structure: I had mixed feelings about Chapter One,
`Family policy, social theory and the state', authored by one of the editors,
Alan Carling, which serves the dual purpose of stand alone `scene setter'
and `Introduction'. An Introduction typically explains the purpose and structure
of a book with signposts to the reader of what will follow. However, this
`Chapter One' part of the Introduction (there were two chapters) did all of
that, but in some ways, it did very much more as it inclined towards distilling
the main content of the book by rehearsing the key arguments of several chapters
that would follow. That is not to say that Carling's chapter was not extremely
well crafted in its presentation of the book's most powerful thesis, but to
me, this went somewhat beyond pro- viding an introduction. With this in mind,
one might speculate whether such an important chapter might not more properly
belong at the end of this book, thereby giving an opportunity to revisit the
important central themes, perhaps offering further discussion of the critical
elements of all that had had been addressed. However, I could not decide how
this would work alongside Graham Crow's interesting and important final chapter:
`Families, moralities, rationalities and social change'. Chapter 2 also forms
part of the Introduction, but as this is `A portrait of western families',
it perhaps more properly belongs at the beginning. This is a structural quibble,
the stated aim of this volume `to take the debate on family change and social
policy on to a new level' has been largely realized in this important contribution
to the discourse around social policy and families.