Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share Has the family had its day?
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
Has the family had its day?
British politicians love to invoke the family, from John Major's "Back to Basics" campaign, to New Labour's "hardworking families" - and now a prominent strain of the Conservative right says parents sticking together for the sake of the children is "the only possible basis for a safe and successful society".
By turning family values into a political football, are they in denial about the way society has developed this century? For decades, single-person households have been the fastest-growing demographic and younger generations are re-defining romantic commitments and their purpose.
Is the erosion of traditional structure around marriage and family a destructive thing for society, or does it offer the kind of freedom and individual choice denied to previous generations?
Presenter: Zoe Strimpel
Producer: David Reid
Editor: Clare Fordham
Contributors:
Danny Kruger, Conservative Member of Parliament for Devizes and Co-Chair of the New Conservatives: Committing to a Better Politics.
Dr. Ruth Beecher, Historian of Modern Britain and the United States, Birkbeck, University of London
Prof. Deborah Cohen, Richard W. Leopold Professor of History at Northwestern University.
Prof. Sasha Roseneil, Vice Chancellor of the University of Sussex.
Prof. Sylvie Fogelj-Bijaoui, sociologist specialising in gender, human rights, the family and the kibbutz.
Daisy Lees, resident of Old Hall
Chris Lees, resident of Old Hall
Rob Connigale, resident of Old Hall
View all episodes
By BBC Radio 4
4.6
195195 ratings
British politicians love to invoke the family, from John Major's "Back to Basics" campaign, to New Labour's "hardworking families" - and now a prominent strain of the Conservative right says parents sticking together for the sake of the children is "the only possible basis for a safe and successful society".
By turning family values into a political football, are they in denial about the way society has developed this century? For decades, single-person households have been the fastest-growing demographic and younger generations are re-defining romantic commitments and their purpose.
Is the erosion of traditional structure around marriage and family a destructive thing for society, or does it offer the kind of freedom and individual choice denied to previous generations?
Presenter: Zoe Strimpel
Producer: David Reid
Editor: Clare Fordham
Contributors:
Danny Kruger, Conservative Member of Parliament for Devizes and Co-Chair of the New Conservatives: Committing to a Better Politics.
Dr. Ruth Beecher, Historian of Modern Britain and the United States, Birkbeck, University of London
Prof. Deborah Cohen, Richard W. Leopold Professor of History at Northwestern University.
Prof. Sasha Roseneil, Vice Chancellor of the University of Sussex.
Prof. Sylvie Fogelj-Bijaoui, sociologist specialising in gender, human rights, the family and the kibbutz.
Daisy Lees, resident of Old Hall
Chris Lees, resident of Old Hall
Rob Connigale, resident of Old Hall
More shows like Analysis
View all
Global News Podcast
7,696 Listeners
From Our Own Correspondent
373 Listeners
More or Less
877 Listeners
Newshour
1,048 Listeners
The Reith Lectures
155 Listeners
In Our Time
5,530 Listeners
The Documentary Podcast
1,795 Listeners
In Our Time: History
1,882 Listeners
6 Minute English
1,776 Listeners
Learning English Conversations
1,040 Listeners
Friday Night Comedy from BBC Radio 4
2,108 Listeners
The Infinite Monkey Cage
1,923 Listeners
Profile
109 Listeners
The Media Show
33 Listeners
BBC Inside Science
411 Listeners
Moral Maze
62 Listeners
The Inquiry
730 Listeners
Start the Week
164 Listeners
Any Questions? and Any Answers?
42 Listeners
The Politics Show
139 Listeners
The Briefing Room
57 Listeners
You're Dead to Me
3,173 Listeners
The Bomb
1,003 Listeners
Westminster Insider
40 Listeners
Radical with Amol Rajan
44 Listeners