ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book reviews women's lives as more integrated, though also fragmented, but in more complex ways than what duality implies. It explores the male/worker centered notion of independence — earning one's income in the market. The book argues that it is also important to consider social dependency in the family in order to be able to analyze the gender inequality hidden by general notions of citizenship. It also explores relations between service work and family life in order to understand how women experience their involvement in social reproduction in two different spheres — at home and at work. The book analyzes the boundaries between the two spheres by looking at transitions from one to the other and developing their analysis into a discussion of continuity and discontinuity between work and family. It examines psychological intimacy between women and men in the workplace.
