"The Family in America"    Online Edition    [SwanSearch] 

 

 

The Family in America: Retrospective and Prospective

By Allan C. Carlson, Ph.D.

Exactly thirty years ago, I wrote and saw published my first substantive essay on the family crisis in modern America. I had recently completed my doctoral dissertation, which had investigated the origins of family policy in Sweden during the 1920s and 1930s.     [Continued...]

 ARCHIVES: 2009; 20082007; 2006200520042003200220012000 

 

       

     

The Family in America, a monthly periodical founded in 1987, and now available on the internet, analyzes the status of the family in this nation and time. It seeks to clarify the importance of the family in binding generation to generation, inspiring love and intimacy in the home, and fostering industry and lawfulness within the broader community. Feature essays explore issues such as: the possibility of a pro-family income tax; the misuse of child abuse laws to disrupt families; the real depopulation crisis looming in the early 21st century; the epidemic of child diseases linked to day care; and the economic pressures on young families caused by the dismantling of the voluntary "family wage."

 Archive 2009;  The Family in America;  Volume 23;  Issues 1 - 2 

  

Apr-Jun
2Q 2009

v-23; i-02

Learning from the history of Conservatism: Main Trails and Less-Travelled Paths; The Libertarians; The Traditionalists; The Fusionists; Neo-Conservatives and the Religious Right; The Reagan Coalition; Where are we now?; Less-Travelled Paths:; …Distributism; …Communitarian; …Cultural Pessimism;

Wilhelm Roepke’s Conundrums Over The Natural Family; The Humane Economy, Family Style; The Costs of Family Decay; Roepke as Successful Prophet

Jan-Mar
1Q 2009

v-23; i-01 Comstockery, Contraception, and the Family The Remarkable Achievements of an Anti-Vice Crusader;
Expanding Child-Care Choices for All Families

 

 Archive 2008;  The Family in America;  Volume 22;  Issues 1 - 4 

  

Oct-Dec
4Q 2008

v-22; i-04 Deconstructing Parenthood; Acquiring Children; Primacy of Adult Desires; Motherless or Fatherless Children; Implications of the New Parenthood; Reclaiming Legal Parenthood

Jul-Sep
3Q 2008

v-22; i-03 What Is the Story Here?; Beyond the Grave; Lost “Equipment for Living”; Bereft of Heroes

Apr-Jun
2Q 2008

v-22; i-02 The Dangerous Rise of Sexual Politics; Feminist Victories; Oppression and Superiority; Sexual Politics and the Welfare State;
New Matriarchy; Divorce and “Same Sex” Marriage; The Personal and the Political; The True Dysfunctional Homes

Jan-Mar
1Q 2008

v-22; i-01 Family-Centered Neighborhoods: The Building Blocks of Vibrant Towns and Cities; The Suburban Experiment; The Socialist Model; Rediscovering the Village; The Function-Rich Home

 

 Archive 2007;  The Family in America;  Volume 21;  Issues 1 - 10 

  

Nov / Dec
2007

v-21; i-10 Hearth or Hangman, The Family Politics of Lethal Force? ; Executing Murderers , Protecting Innocents; The Family’s Sphere of Liberty; Maistre in the New Millennium; Feminists as Jailors

Sep / Oct
2007

v-21; i-09 Not Safe, Nor Private, Nor Free: Wendell Berry on Sexual Love and Procreation First, sex is not safe.; Second, sex is not private.; And third, sex is never free.
Jul 2007 v-21; i-07 Falling Human Fertility and the Future of the Family; How sure the trend?; Implications
Jun 2007 v-21; i-06 The Master Kung Returns: How Social Disintegration in the U.S. Has Fueled a Renascence of Confucianism in Asia
May 2007 v-21; i-05 The Physics of the Natural Family: Why Families Don’t Fall Down; Building Real Homes; The Truths of Physical Law; Stress & Strain; The Overlap of Joints; The Resilience Factor
Apr 2007 v-21; i-04 Desperate Swedish Socialist Housewives; Ellen Key and THE SUPERMOM; Alva Myrdal's Challenge; Revenge of the Women of 1941; “Only a Housewife”; Tax Reform As Liberation; The Real Revolution
Mar 2007 v-21; i-03 SPECIAL ISSUE: A NEW RESEARCH ROUNDUP #2; Diploids or Divorce?; Danes on Drugs; Who’s Leading the Retreat from Marriage?; Teenage Pregnancy: The Fathers;  What Big Government Has Wrought; Religion Makes the U.S. Different; The Wrong Prescription; The Deconstruction of Motherhood; Saved From the Industrial Revolution, Trashed by the Friends Generation; The Mysterious Marriage Advantage; Executing Criminals In Utero?; Traumatized Teens; Grand Mal; Teen Pregnancy Rates Reconsidered; Mating Patterns Die Hard; Denominational Differences; Shacking Up Latino Style; Lessons from Europe; Diverging Perspectives on Divorce; The Lesbian as Lush
Feb 2007 v-21; i-02 Russell Kirk: “Northern” Agrarianism and the Function-Rich Family; Southern Sympathies; Conservative Canons; A Glimpse of God
Jan 2007 v-21; i-01 New DownWinders. New Cover-Up: The Consequences and Politics of Family Fission;

 

 Archive 2006;  The Family in America;  Volume 20;  Issues 1 - Current 

  

Dec 2006 v-20; i-12 Alexander Chayanov, Peasant Utopia, And the Natural Family Economy;

Oct / Nov
2006

v-20; 10/11 SPECIAL ISSUE: A NEW RESEARCH ROUNDUP ; Cause or Effect?; Abortion and the Marriage Market; The Difference a Father Makes; The Gamble of State Lotteries; Churches Key to Urban Marriage; The Depressed Only Child; An Echoed Warning; Children at Risk; Deadly Parental Divorces—Part 2; The Ironies of the Academy; Not Just Selection Effects; Punching the Clock Risks Mom’s Health; The Irony of Easy Divorce; Boys and Girls Out of Control; Better Than Prozac; Long-Lasting Harm; Protected from Sudden Death; Maturing Too Early, Suffering Too Much; Sweet Home Alabama; Teen Faith Brightens Family Ties; Depressed and Angry Victims; A Natural Division of Labor; Bait and Switch?
Sep 2006 v-20; i-09 Confronting the Family Implications of the Immigration Debate: Remembering the Laws of Man y las Leyes de la Naturaleza
Aug 2006 v-20; i-08 The Limitless Possibility of Limits: How Boundaries Safeguard Freedom and Family
Jul 2006 v-20; i-07 Capturing Other People’s Children: The New Bio-Politics of Fertility; The Conflict of ‘Memes’; Battle Over the Children; Hollywood Tricks; Liberal Memes at School

May/Jun
2006

v-20; i-5/6 The Real Danger of Same-Sex Marriage; A Public Institution; Redefining Marriage; The Abolition of Marriage; Parens Patriae, or the State as Parent; The Politics of Domestic Violence; The Politics of Child Abuse; Fueling the Machinery:; The Role of Child Support; Unintended Consequences; The Limits of Policy
Apr 2006 v-20; i-04 The Judicial Assault on the Family

Feb/Mar
2006

v-20; i-2/3 The De-Institutionalization of Marriage: The Case of Sweden; Ideology and Law Making; The Marriage Code of 1920; Rival Worldviews; “Red Sweden”; The Palme Era; The 1987 Laws; What Does This Mean?
Jan 2006 v-20; i-01 Media Myths vs. Samizdat Sureties: Why America's 'New Class' Journalists Are Driving Home Truths Underground

 

 Archive 2005;  The Family in America;  Volume 19;  Issues 1 - 12 

  

Dec 2005 v-19; i-12 ‘Anti-Dowry’?: The Effects of Student Loan Debt on Marriage and Childbearing; Prepared for the Project on Student Debt**; Education and Fertility; Early Numbers; Harder Figures; Policy Responses
Nov 2005 v-19; i-11 Europe and the Christian Democracy Movement: A Once and Future Hope?; A Legacy of the French Revolution; The Christian Democratic Platform; Two Paths to Christian Democracy; Abraham Kuyper; Crisis and Renewal; Large Effects; “Silent Revolution”; New Hope From the East?; Lessons
Oct 2005 v-19; i-10 The Age of Aquarius? The False Promise of The Sexual Revolution
Sep 2005 v-19; i-09 State, Society, and the Redefinition of Marriage; Mediating Institutions and Family Autonomy; Affirming Parents' Rights; Restructuring the Family Through Litigation; Marriage...for the Interests of State; Facing the Ideological Challenge
Aug 2005 v-19; i-08 The Natural Family Meets the Moral Hazard at National Health Care Gulch; Social Insurance and the Family; Economic Crisis and Social Policy; Rise of the Elder-Care State; Fresh Responses
Jul 2005 v-19; i-07 Part 1: THE NECESSITY OF FAMILY POLICY; The Centralizing State; “Modernity” and Family Crisis; European and American Models; The Sixties and Beyond; Part 2: THE PARENTS’ TAX RELIEF ACT OF 2005
Jun 2005 v-19; i-06 Intolerable Tolerance; Tolerance and Acceptance; The New Self-Righteousness; The High Cost of 'Tolerance'; "Zero Tolerance"; Religious Consensus
May 2005 v-19; i-05 Putting FAMILY FIRST —in Latvia, in the World; Children's Rights vs. Children's Needs; Latvian Families, World Families
Apr 2005 v-19; i-04 Making Social Security Reform Family-Friendly; A “Family-Friendly” System; The True Social Security Crisis; Family Tests; Another Way
Mar 2005 v-19; i-03 THE NATURAL FAMILY: A MANIFESTO;
THE STORY OF THE FAMILY; A TIME OF CRISIS; A VISION; OUR PRINCIPLES; OUR PLATFORM; ON LIBERTY; THE USUAL CHARGES; OUR ALLIES; LOOKING FORWARD; THE CALL; TO THE WORLD, WE SAY
Feb 2005 v-19; i-02 Red War, Blue War: How Diverging Family Politics Define Alternate Perspectives on the War Against Terror;
Jan 2005 v-19; i-01 The Grim Roots of “Common Schools”; State Schools and Family Decay; The First Pro-Family Movement; Public Schools: Back to the Roots; True Homecoming; Parental Involvement

 

 Archive 2004;  The Family in America;  Volume 18;  Issues 1 - 12 
 top 

Dec 2004

v-18; i-12

Marriage and Procreation; Sex and Civilization; Christian Marriage; A Lasting Morality; On Contraception; On Illegitimacy; The New Gnostics; Outside the Box

Nov 2004

v-18; i-11

Culture Matters

Oct 2004

v-18; i-10

Time for a new ‘Moynihan Report’? Confronting the National Family Crisis

Sep 2004

v-18; i-09

Diagnosing the Impending European Population Implosion; Unto the Least of These My Brethren: U.S. Population Control Policy

Aug 2004

v-18; i-08

Thoughts About a Pro-Family Think Tank; Playing With Evolutionary Fire

Jul 2004

v-18; i-07

For Profit or For Posterity? The Unique Legacy of America’s Family Businesses

Jun 2004

v-18; i-06

Why are We Here?; My Family Story

May 2004

v-18; i-05

Strengthening Marriage Through Divorce and Custody Reform

Apr 2004

v-18; i-04

Why Homosexuals Want What Marriage Has Now Become
Mar 2004 v-18; i-03 Online Edition is NOT available at this time!

Feb 2004

v-18; i-02

A New ‘Fable of the Bees; Profiting from Disease; Liberating Mothers; Family Failure & Economic Growth

Jan 2004

v-18; i-01

The American Way: How Faith and Family Shaped the American Identity; First, Theodore Roosevelt; My second character is Julia  Lathrop; My third character is Arthur Altmeyer; My fourth character is Molly Dewson; My fifth character is Henry Luce; My sixth character is Walt Whitman Rostow

 

 Archive 2003;  The Family in America;  Volume 17;  Issues 1 - 12 
 top 
Dec 2003 v-17; i-12

A Culture of Marriage: Two Tales
 

Rebuilding One in America**; First: Marriage is Peculiarly American;  Second: Marriage is the Union of the Sexual and the Economic; Third: Marriage is a fruitful balance of burdens and benefits; Fourth: Marriage is a communal event; Fifth and finally: Marriage is political

 

Tearing One Down in Sweden***; Before 1920; The Marriage Code of 1920; Radical Currents in the 1930’s; Era of the Swedish  Housewife; Radical Change; Directives 1969; An Individualized Income Tax; The Reform of 1973; The Marriage Code of 1987; The Joint Homes Act of 1987; The 1995 “Registered Partnership” Law; Second Thoughts?

Nov 2003 v-17; i-11

The Curious Case of Gender Equality; Favorite Journal; “Suckling and Silence”; Androgyny and Futility; Disordered Institutions; The “Title VII” Debate; A Better Future?

Oct 2003 v-17; i-10

Divided We Fall: America’s Second Civil War; Domestic Battlegrounds; Intergenerational Conflicts

Sep 2003 v-17; i-09

Individualism and Its Discontents; Christendom’s Indian Summer; Cultural Disorder; The Real Contest of Ideas; The Tyranny of Liberalism; Building a True Social Science; Faith & Family

Aug 2003 v-17; i-08

A Primer on the “Gay Marriage” Debate

Jul 2003 v-17; i-07

Children’s Needs and the Ironies of Development

Jun 2003 v-17; i-06

Making women warriors

May 2003 v-17; i-05

Sexuality: A Litmus Test for Culture; 1. The Puritan Marriage; 2. The Backcountry Hillbilly; 3. Ben Franklin; 4. The Victorian Home; 5. The large Catholic family; 6. The dark and pornographic; 7. The 21st-Century Amish Family

Apr 2003 v-17; i-04

Swedish Sagas; NEW IDEAS IN FAMILY POLICY

v-17; i-2/3

The Family and Homeland Security: Lessons from the Cold War Years; Global Responsibility and the National Character; Dulles, the Moral Law, and the Challenge of Communism; Family, Faith and National Security; Rostow and “The American Style”; Predictably, David Riesman; Kennedy, Social Stability, and the Cold War; To Sustain a Performance at Home; Social Upheaval and International Disarray; Racial Unrest and Narrowing the Ideological Gap; Disintegrating Values and Vietnam; The Aftermath; Grasping the Problem

Jan 2003 v-17; i-01

HomeLess America: What the Disappearance of the American Homemaker Really Means; The Real Traditional Home; Homemaking’s Rise and Fall; Home Truths; Homeless Children; The Devalued Home

 

 Archive 2002;  The Family in America;  Volume 16;  Issues 1 - 12 
 top 
Dec 2002 v-16; i-12

Breastfeeding as a Radical Act; In Praise of Mother’s Milk; Trouble in Paradise; What Went Wrong?; Family Barriers; Coming Home

Nov 2002 v-16; i-11

The Family: America’s Hope

Oct 2002 v-16; i-10

Families and War: Two Cautionary Tales; The Military as Social Engineer: Building ‘The Total Army Family’; Can Leviathan Be Tamed?: The Story of the Agrarians; When Feminism Was a Mental Illness: Tales and Lessons from the 1950’s

Sep 2002 v-16; i-09

Taking off the Rose-colored Glasses: How Post-9/11 Sobriety Can Help Restore American Family Life; The Fortress of Marriage; Optimistic Lies

Aug 2002 v-16; i-08

Deep Ecology Versus the Natural Family;  The Autonomous Family and the Good  Community; Explanations of the Baby Boom...and Bust

Jul 2002 v-16; i-07

Touching the Third RAIL: The Bizarre World of Day Care Research

Jun 2002 v-16; i-06

Breeding Little Monsters: How Day Care Is Exposing America’s Children to Unnatural Plagues

 May 2002 v-16; i-05

"Sanctif[ying] the Traditional Family"; The True Ideological Origins of The New Deal; Family and Gender in The New Deal; Maternalism Triumphant; Endnotes

 Apr 2002 v-16; i-04

Toward a Theory of the Autonomous Family; The First Societal Bond: Marriage; The Second Natural Bond: The Household; The Power of Household Production; The Third Societal Bond: The Community; The Fourth Societal Bond: The State; The Broadest Societal Bond: The Nation; The Unbridled Factor; "The American Century"

 Mar 2002 v-16; i-03

Should America Try to Recover  Lost Family Strengths?; Inevitable Progress?; The Need for a Past; Sorokin and the Sensate Culture; Strong Families; Safer Children; Rebuilding Families

v-16; i-1/2

The Peculiar Legacy of German-America; Cultural Pluralism, Informal and Formal; The German-Americans; The Crisis of 1914-17; "Furor Americanus"; 100% Americanism; Families, Mothers, and Children; The Maternalist Campaign; Policy Victories; "Americanized"...or "Germanized"?

 

 Archive 2001;  The Family in America;  Volume 15;  Issues 1 - 12 
 top 
Dec 2001 v-15; i-12

The Radical Change in American Culture- How Did We Get to This Point?; The Family in the 21st Century: Can it Survive?; Can Leviathan Be Tamed? The Story of the Agrarians*

Nov 2001 v-15; i-11

The Natural Family in the Modern WorldThe Productive Home; Mass Schools & Family Decay; The Family Way; Regarding Family Policy; Parents empowered to ‘vote in place of their children; A Jubilee Year for Newlyweds; Disincentives against abortion; Pro-birth policies;

Oct 2001 v-15; i-10 Theodore Roosevelt’s New Politics of the American FamilyBurden of the "R Word"; A Vision of Familism; Foes of the Family; An "American" Family Policy
Sep 2001 v-15; i-09 The Home as a SchoolThe Extraordinary Influence of  Family Life on Student Learning; A Stimulating Home Environment; Policy Implications; The Home as a Spiritual Center
Aug 2001 v-15; i-08

How to Make the World Truly Safe for ChildrenArticle I: Each Child Has the Right to a MotherArticle II: Each Child Has the Right to a FatherArticle III: Each Child Has the Right to a Home Built on Marriage; Article IV: Each Child Has the Right to Siblings; Article V: Each Child Has the Right to AncestorsArticle VI: Each Child Has the Right to a PosterityArticle VII: Each Child Has the Right to Religious FaithArticle VIII: Each Child Has the Right to Live in a Healthy CommunityArticle IX: Each Child Has the Right to InnocenceArticle X: Each Child Has the Right to a Tradition

Jul 2001 v-15; i-07

Depopulation and Family Failure in Russia; Flawed Figures; The Disappearance of Children; Depopulation and Cultural Decay

Jun 2001 v-15; i-06 The Constitutionality of Legal Preferences for Heterosexual Marriage; The Constitutional Framework; Reasonable Purpose, Not Strict Scrutiny; The Compelling Social Interests Tests; The Survival of Society; Conclusion
May 2001 v-15; i-05 Fostering Confusion: What the "Foster-Care Crisis" Really Means; Number Crunched; Fostering Problems; Illegitimacy; Divorce & Remarriage; Day Carelessness; The Family as Solution; Endnotes
Apr 2001 v-15; i-04 Last One Out Turn Off the Lights?; The Longevity Explosion; Secular Fertility Decline; Fertility Trends at Century’s End; What Happens Next?; One Scenario for Global Depopulation; Population Issues for a Depopulating World; From the Swan Library of Family and Culture: Same-Sex marriage
Mar 2001 v-15; i-03 "The Task for Conservatism": Family Lessons From The New Agrarians As the Year 2001 Begins, A Look Back to: Five Critical Moments of the Millennium: From a Christian Agrarian Perspective
Feb 2001 v-15; i-02 Family, Faith, and Freedom U.N. Watch: The Ideology of Population Assistance;   In Battling Urban Sprawl: First Look Within
Jan 2001 v-15; i-01 The Changing Face of the American Family The ‘Upside Down’ Family

 

 Archive 2000;  The Family in America;  Volume 14;  Issues 1 - 12 
 top 
Dec 2000 v-14; i-12 An Outline of Insanity; The Benefits of Wedlock; Perils of the One-Parent Home; From Marriage to Depression; Betrayal of the Professionals; True Mental Imbalance
Nov 2000 v-14; i-11 Family Policies that Work: An International Perspective; 1. A breakdown of marriage and family; 2. Aging societies; 3. A population implosion; Family policies that work; Explicit family policies; Recognition of family in economic policies; Social policy; Conclusion
Oct 2000 v-14; i-10 Protecting Children by Respecting Parents; Case Number 1:; Case Number 2:; Case Number 3:
Sep 2000 v-14; i-09 Punishing Families for Wedlock And Children; The "Great Society"?; Measuring the Marriage Tax Penalty; The Married-Parenthood Tax Penalty; Evident Conclusions; Should Public Policy Favor Marriage and Children? Thoughts on a "Preferential Option for the Family"
Aug 2000 v-14; i-08 ‘The Family’ at the United Nations: What Went Wrong?; The ‘Christian Democratic’ Episode; Christian Democracy in the Early U.N.; The Democratic Socialist Triumph; The ‘Sea Change’ in Values; A New Opportunity?
Jul 2000 v-14; i-07 Regulating for "Social Responsibility"; Agricultural Extension; Taxation for ‘Good Social Ends’; Housing for the Masses; Common Lessons
Jun 2000 v-14; i-06 The Use and Misuse of the Social Sciences in Crafting Family Policy; The Myrdals and "The Population Question"; The Manipulation of Science; An American Parallel; Is Social Science Radial?; Social Science, Rightly Applied
May 2000 v-14; i-05 The End of Patriotism; Family and Human Values; The ‘No Sacrifice’ Soldier and Sailor; Family Decline…Civic Disorder; A Tottering Political Culture
Apr 2000 v-14; i-04 Parental Rights Under Assault; The United Nations and the Child; A New Kind of Law; The UN Convention and America; The Long-Term Danger; Another Kind of Research
Mar 2000 v-14; i-03 What’s at Stake in the Family Debate?; Civil Society in Trouble; Cultural Fragmentation; Building Democratic Community; The Loss of Family Time; An Anti-Family Culture?; On Moral Ecology; Five Critical Moments of the Millennium:; From a Christian Agrarian Perspective
Feb 2000 v-14; i-02 The Power of the Home Economy; The Real Worth of Family Work; Working Side by Side; What Then Shall Be Done?; Americans: Communalists, Not Individualists

Jan 2000

v-14; i-01

Dead Beat Dads or Fleeced Fathers?; Logic of the Shotgun Wedding; The Wages of ‘No Fault’; Punishing the Innocent; No Substitute for Marriage; Bureaucratic Nightmares; “Children Worse Off Overall”

 

 

 

 

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