Red Families v. Blue Families: Legal Polarization and the Creation of Culture |  | Authors: Naomi Cahn, June Carbone
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Category: Book
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Rating:  9 reviews
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 304
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.5
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.2 x 1
ISBN: 0195372174
Dewey Decimal Number: 306.850973
EAN: 9780195372175
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Product Description
Red Families v. Blue Families identifies a new family model geared for the post-industrial economy. Rooted in the urban middle class, the coasts and the "blue states" in the last three presidential elections, the Blue Family Paradigm emphasizes the importance of women's as well as men's workforce participation, egalitarian gender roles, and the delay of family formation until both parents are emotionally and financially ready. By contrast, the Red Family Paradigm--associated with the Bible Belt, the mountain west, and rural America--rejects these new family norms, viewing the change in moral and sexual values as a crisis. In this world, the prospect of teen childbirth is the necessary deterrent to premarital sex, marriage is a sacred undertaking between a man and a woman, and divorce is society's greatest moral challenge. Yet, the changing economy is rapidly eliminating the stable, blue collar jobs that have historically supported young families, and early marriage and childbearing derail the education needed to prosper. The result is that the areas of the country most committed to traditional values have the highest divorce and teen pregnancy rates, fueling greater calls to reinstill traditional values.
Featuring the groundbreaking research first hailed in The New Yorker, this penetrating book will transform our understanding of contemporary American culture and law. The authors show how the Red-Blue divide goes much deeper than this value system conflict--the Red States have increasingly said "no" to Blue State legal norms, and, as a result, family law has been rent in two. The authors close with a consideration of where these different family systems still overlap, and suggest solutions that permit rebuilding support for both types of families in changing economic circumstances.
Incorporating results from the 2008 election, Red Families v. Blue Families will reshape the debate surrounding the culture wars and the emergence of red and blue America.
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 9
 Holistic Insights March 4, 2010
Kenneth J. Black (San Carlos, CA United States)
23 out of 24 found this review helpful
This book is a wonderful read because it gives you everything you need to understand modern American families - the social science statistics, legal analysis, expert insights on culture, and a nuanced treatment of the eocnomics - and combines those diverse currents into a light, even enjoyable (given the topic under dicsussion) narrative.
The authors do an excellent job of avoiding the bile of the culture wars, and instead are able to tease out what the fundamental differences are between different conceptions of the family in America. Everyone has 'family values', and want the best for their children - the split comes over how to guarantee the best, and the role that sexuality and fertility play in different conceptions of what is the best for a family.
Here's a good discussion of some of the arguments in the book from a conservative writing for the New York Times: [...]
A remarkably informative book July 19, 2010
D. Ellis (Warren, VT United States)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This is a remarkable book! Two scholars of Family Law have written a book anyone can understand, and everyone should read. Why? Anyone who watches election returns knows about Red (Republican) and Blue (Democratic) States. The authors explain with admirable clarity how and why our country has become Red/Blue - polarized geographically, economically, and religiously, as well as politically.
Other reviews summarize the books goal, arguments, and conclusions. This review concerns structure and style. The Introduction states "This book takes a comprehensive look at the relationship among moral anxiety about family form, ideological driven family laws, and the prospect for more constructive approaches to family change". It also states the following conclusion: "-- genuine family reform requires a more honest conversation about the changed and changing terms of family stability. Doing so starts with the recognition that red families and blue families are living different lives with different symbolic and practical needs."
The astute reader will quickly notice the author's natural modernist "blue" sympathies. However, they show deep understanding of and respect for the goals of traditional "red" families. There is not a trace of polemic writing in the book.
The book is divided into three parts. Part 1, "Family Maps" lays out the salient facts in detail. And the facts should be very interesting to anyone who cares deeply about their family and the future. Part 2, "The Legal Map" shows how and why Family Law evolved differently in different geographic regions of the country. Part 3, "The Map To The Future" gives pragmatic advice for individuals, voters, and lawmakers that respects tradition, is sensitive to the "culture wars", and moves the country towards healthier families.
Finally, the brief Conclusion beautifully summarizes what is important, and what is not.
For those willing to read the book carefully, hidden gems and sparkling insights make the time well spent.
Highly recommended!
THE REAL TRUTH ABOUT AMERICAN FAMILIES May 12, 2010
FourthDaughter (Boston, MA)
15 out of 24 found this review helpful
If you want to stay married, live in Massachusetts, or in another blue state, preferably in the Northeast, where all of us crazy liberals live. Yup, the land of legal gay marriage has the lowest divorce rate in the country (and has for a long time). The other New England states are right behind us.
Why? Higher incomes and education levels and the fact that people get married at slightly later ages, all of which cut down on divorce rates. I think the authors were honest and not at all insulting to our fellow Americans in red states (aborton rates are higher for teenagers in blue states, but that could be in part due to easier availability and unwillingness on the part of parents for teens to de-rail educations and compromise lives, whatever you may think of that), the authors were honest.
I think many people in red states have been feeling morally supererior to us for so long (and for NO GOOD REASON) that they just have trouble accepting this information.
We are different - but in the end we have stronger, longer lasting family units in the blue states, like it or not.
Terrific Insights Regarding Families, Law, Neuroscience and Popular Culture January 29, 2010
Nancy Levit
17 out of 28 found this review helpful
Red Families v. Blue Families is a wonderful book, packed with ideas about the political construction of families that are based on up to date empirical evidence from a variety of disciplines. It offers a powerful and fresh look at family formation: specifically, relationships between the age at which people marry and the politics of families, as well as the significant class divides that are emblematic of red and blue families. The authors draw on cutting edge neuroscience research about brain development and relate it to the age of family formation and marital stability. Cahn and Carbone explore teen sexual behavior in red and blue states--they make the case that contraception, not abortion, is key to the promotion of marriage and family values. The red and blue paradigms do not depict absolutes, but Cahn and Carbone convincingly demonstrate that red states and blue states have different paradigms of moral values and different sets of laws regarding reproduction, contraception, and sexuality. Red Families v. Blue Families is particularly exciting in its discussion of who should play umpire regarding controversial constitutional issues. Cahn and Carbone argue that legal scholars overemphasize the role of federal courts in politically divisive constitutional family issues. They propose instead a concept of progressive federalism, one that allows individual states to develop different concepts of "family values." This is a highly readable and important book, one that will be shaping the national dialogue in family law, federalism, popular culture, and the intersection of law and science for years to come.
Dueling Visions of Families, Culture and Law February 14, 2010
Jana B. Singer
12 out of 22 found this review helpful
This is an important and timely book. It convincingly explores the intersection of culture, law and family policy and illuminates the differing visions of family that underlie many of our nation's ongoing culture wars. The authors show how the political and legal clashes produced by these divisions have exacerbated economic and racial inequalities and undermined our nation's ability to provide for those most in need. In the final portion of the book the authors offer proposals for middle ground solutions that hold the promise of bridging these cultural collisions and rebuilding shared understandings of family.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 9
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