ABSTRACT
This part introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters. The part considers the living out of the categories created by the middle class. It examines family relationships in all their contradictory richness. Family and household relationships were framed by the physical setting which middle-class entrepreneurs as well as ideologues did so much to promote in homes and gardens. Many families, having increased incomes, were preoccupied with new patterns of consumption: what goods to buy, how much, how to display and care for them. Twice as many female headed households had fewer than five members as those headed by men. Men were active in creating the framework of markets, voluntary societies and a nascent state organization. The study of the public sphere in the local communities brings out the affinity of these organizations both with each other and with the family enterprise.
