title: The politics of concepts: family and its (putative) replacements.
abstract: The central concern of this paper is that there has been a move within British sociology to subsume (or sometimes, even replace) the concept of 'family' within ideas about personal life, intimacy and kinship. It calls attention to what will be lost sight of by this conceptual move: an understanding of the collective whole beyond the aggregation of individuals; the creation of lacunae that will be (partially) filled by other disciplines; and engagement with policy developments and professional practices that focus on 'family' as a core, institutionalized, idea. While repudiating the necessity (and indeed, pointing out the dangers) of providing any definitive answer to definitions of 'family', the paper calls for critical reflection on the implications of these conceptual moves.
authors.affiliation: Sociology and Social Policy, University of Southampton. r.s.edwards@soton.ac.uk
authors.forename: Rosalind
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Edwards
authors.forename: Jane Ribbens
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: McCarthy
authors.forename: Val
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Gillies
mesh_terms: D005190:Family; D005195:Family Relations; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D026684:Personal Autonomy; D011057:Politics; D019529:Sexuality; D012961:Sociology; D006113:United Kingdom