Family and CivilizationFamily and Civilization is the magnum opus of Carle Zimmerman, a distinguished sociologist who taught for many years at Harvard University. In this unjustly forgotten work Zimmerman demonstrates the close and causal connections between the rise and fall of different types of families and the rise and fall of civilizations, particularly ancient Greece and Rome, medieval and modern Europe, and the United States. Zimmerman traces the evolution of family structure from tribes and clans to extended and large nuclear families to the small nuclear families and broken families of today. And he shows the consequences of each structure for the bearing and rearing of children; for religion, law, and everyday life; and for the fate of civilization itself. Originally published in 1947, this compelling analysis predicted many of today’s cultural and social controversies and trends, including youth violence and depression, abortion and homosexuality, the demographic collapse of Europe and of the West more generally, and the displacement of peoples. This new edition, part of ISI Books’ Background series, has been edited and abridged by cultural commentator James Kurth of Swarthmore College and includes essays on the text by Kurth, Allan Carlson, and Bryce Christensen. |
Contents
INTRODUCTION by Allan C Carlson | |
1 Introduction | |
2 Family Types and Civilization | |
3 Fluctuation of the Family Bond | |
4 From Late Roman to Trustee Familism | |
5 The Trustee Family of the Dark Ages | |
6 Rise of the Modern Domestic Family | |
7 The Rise of Modern Atomism from the Reformation to the Nineteenth Century | |
9 The NineteenthCentury Atomistic Family | |
10 Disruption of Public Control of Familism | |
11 The Western Family and the Purposes of Family Sociology | |
12 The Dynamics of Familism | |
13 The Trustee Family SystemCausal Analysis | |
14 The Domestic Family SystemCausal Analysis | |
15 The Atomistic Family SystemCausal Analysis | |
NOTES | |
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Common terms and phrases
adultery agencies agent American analysis antifamilism atomism atomistic family Augustine barbarian basic became become behavior canon law causal child Christian church clan concubinatus consent contract Council of Trent cultural dignitas divorce doctrine domestic family domestic type dominant economic Erasmus Europe European exists familistic Family and Civilization family bond family decay family law family sociology family system family type feuds fides forces fundamental Greece Greece and Rome Greek Gregory of Tours Homeric human husband and wife idea individual influence institution intellectual jurisdiction manus marriage married modern moral movement nineteenth century organization parents Pericles period persons philosophy Pierre Lombard Plutarch Polybius population potestas problem proles Reformation religion religious Revolution revolutionary rise Roman Empire Roman family Rome rule sacrament sacramentum secular social system sociologists sociology theory trustee family trustee type Twelve Tables type of family Western society Zimmerman