Introduction

The family remains a complex and dynamic concept, variably defined and experienced. Families take many different forms and these, together with changing expectations and anticipations of family life, provide crucial frames through which we engage in society (Carling et al, 2002). Experiences of families and relationships are critical to the development of personal and group identities as well as providing material and emotional resources as we proceed through the lifecourse (Beck and Beck-Gernsheim, 1995; Cheal, 2002). The topic of families in society has spurred a range of research and policy projects, with ‘the family’ becoming one of the building blocks of social scientific enquiry and one of the welfare ‘pillars’ of society (Esping-Andersen et al, 2002).

This book offers a unique contribution to critical studies of families and relationships through the engagement with, and development of, the concept of boundaries. The book has three aims. First, through a critical application of the concept of boundaries, contributions offer an enhanced understanding of families and relationships. Familial and relationship practices and processes are explored through contemporary empirical data and related theoretical developments. Contributors have addressed the concept of boundaries in a variety of ways; in some chapters conceptual analysis is underpinned by the notion of boundary and boundary practices; in others the authors relate their work to the concept of boundary in order to assess its usefulness for analytical purposes and theory building. Second, chapters all move beyond the notion of a clearly ‘bounded’ family by examining diversity, particularly in family forms, including non-familial relationships and networks. However, chapters also recognise that traditional values and approaches still form part of daily experience and expectations and therefore still need to be integrated into current social scientific thinking, but perhaps in more reflexive and cautious ways than hitherto. Third, the contributions work towards a reconfiguration of family and personal life through the use of the boundary metaphor. The emphasis is on the processes that underlie boundary construction, deconstruction and reconstruction, particularly with respect to relationship formation, choices and diverse meanings of families and relationships. Chapters cover dimensions of family life, relationships and friendships that span the lifecourse and different contexts.