The Family, Civil Society, and the State

Christophe Wolfe, ed. The Family, Civil Society, and the State (Rowman and Littlefield, 1998).

A detailed look at the Family and modern social institutions, this book includes essays from a who’s who of lawyers and cultural critics. It is divided into four parts:

The first part of the book explores what is distinctive in the current situation of the family, and offers both optimistic and pessimistic assessments of the family in our time, as well as a historical overview. In the second part, authors look at the family today; demographics, economics, and social pathologies are all discussed. Part three offers analysis of the family and American law, especially the law of divorce, and the fourth part deals with the relationship between the family and two profoundly important facets of the structural framework of American life: our capitalist economic system and the cultural power of the media. Finally, the fifth part surveys the various areas of public policy, and concludes by asking whether, and what, public policy can do for the family. (From the publisher).