Vanessa May is Professor of Sociology at the University of Manchester.

‘This book is interdisciplinary and inquisitive at its core, taking the field of family studies as an open question rather than an already structured and cleared path. It presents the messiness of families as they really are.’Rin Reczek, The Ohio State University‘Vanessa May pushes the boundaries of family studies to uncharted territories. Her beautifully written book is paradigm-shifting, meticulously researched, theoretically sophisticated and driven by a profound desire for a different sociology of family life. Families is a rigorous, groundbreaking book that should be read widely and repeatedly.’Kinneret Lahad, Tel Aviv University‘Families challenges us to identify and critically examine the norms that guide our investigation into the family as a practice, providing a template to avoid ethnocentric analysis. This book should be core reading in undergraduate and graduate classes in family studies.’Rhacel Salazar Parreñas, University of Southern California

• 1 Introduction2 Cultural Variation in Family Forms3 Conceptualizing ‘Family’ in Euro-American Research4 Governing Families5 The Embodied and Material Dimensions of Family Life6 Families Located in and Moving through Space7 Families in Time8 Conclusion

Vanessa May is Professor of Sociology at the University of Manchester.

‘This book is interdisciplinary and inquisitive at its core, taking the field of family studies as an open question rather than an already structured and cleared path. It presents the messiness of families as they really are.’Rin Reczek, The Ohio State University‘Vanessa May pushes the boundaries of family studies to uncharted territories. Her beautifully written book is paradigm-shifting, meticulously researched, theoretically sophisticated and driven by a profound desire for a different sociology of family life. Families is a rigorous, groundbreaking book that should be read widely and repeatedly.’Kinneret Lahad, Tel Aviv University‘Families challenges us to identify and critically examine the norms that guide our investigation into the family as a practice, providing a template to avoid ethnocentric analysis. This book should be core reading in undergraduate and graduate classes in family studies.’Rhacel Salazar Parreñas, University of Southern California

• 1 Introduction2 Cultural Variation in Family Forms3 Conceptualizing ‘Family’ in Euro-American Research4 Governing Families5 The Embodied and Material Dimensions of Family Life6 Families Located in and Moving through Space7 Families in Time8 Conclusion

Vanessa May is Professor of Sociology at the University of Manchester.

‘This book is interdisciplinary and inquisitive at its core, taking the field of family studies as an open question rather than an already structured and cleared path. It presents the messiness of families as they really are.’Rin Reczek, The Ohio State University‘Vanessa May pushes the boundaries of family studies to uncharted territories. Her beautifully written book is paradigm-shifting, meticulously researched, theoretically sophisticated and driven by a profound desire for a different sociology of family life. Families is a rigorous, groundbreaking book that should be read widely and repeatedly.’Kinneret Lahad, Tel Aviv University‘Families challenges us to identify and critically examine the norms that guide our investigation into the family as a practice, providing a template to avoid ethnocentric analysis. This book should be core reading in undergraduate and graduate classes in family studies.’Rhacel Salazar Parreñas, University of Southern California

• 1 Introduction2 Cultural Variation in Family Forms3 Conceptualizing ‘Family’ in Euro-American Research4 Governing Families5 The Embodied and Material Dimensions of Family Life6 Families Located in and Moving through Space7 Families in Time8 Conclusion