ABSTRACT
In the conclusion, we review the basic contributions of this book to the study of the social worlds of families. Rather than describing attitudes about the family or particular family constellations (networks of kin and friends), we instead explore the moment-to-moment project of “doing family.”
Our book documents the lived experiences of family members by providing transcriptions of naturally occurring embodied interactions of the family members. Rather than relying on interviews or discourses about practices, we instead look at the actual fully embodied interactive practices through which family life, involving the ‘living body,’ is accomplished. With each section, we address forms of the emotional life as well as the embodied actions through which local social order is achieved – in the carrying out of directives (regarding the accomplishment of crucial tasks in the home), the creation of intimate ties on greeting, leave-taking, in times of trouble as well as joyful engagement and creativity, and in socializing forms of moral behavior, often through extensive negotiation.
