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Constructions, reconstructions and deconstructions of ‘family’ amongst people who live apart together (LATs)
Author(s) -
Stoilova Mariya,
Roseneil Sasha,
Carter Julia,
Duncan Simon,
Phillips Miranda
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
the british journal of sociology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.826
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 1468-4446
pISSN - 0007-1315
DOI - 10.1111/1468-4446.12220
Subject(s) - closeness , feeling , normative , social psychology , sociology , family ties , kinship , psychology , gender studies , genealogy , epistemology , history , anthropology , mathematical analysis , mathematics , philosophy
This article explores how people who live apart from their partners in Britain describe and understand ‘family’. It investigates whether, and how far, non‐cohabiting partners, friends, ‘blood’ and legal ties are seen as ‘family’, and how practices of care and support, and feelings of closeness are related to these constructions. It suggests that people in LAT relationships creatively draw and re‐draw the boundaries of family belonging in ways that involve emotionally subjective understandings of family life, and that also refer to normative constructions of what ‘family’ ought to be, as well as to practical recognitions of lived family ‘realities’. This often involves handling uncertainties about what constitutes ‘family’.