ABSTRACT
In this chapter we will turn the spotlight explicitly on to what we are calling the ‘moral dimensions’ of negotiations about responsibilities in families. The importance of the moral dimension comes through in earlier chapters. For example, in Chapter 2 in our discussion of the balance between dependence and independence, it was clear there that people are not simply negotiating about the relative ‘price’ of the goods and services which they exchange, as weighed in material terms. In that sense the material value of the exchange is only one part of the picture. People are also negotiating about the boundaries of their relationships and about people’s personal identities as ‘dependent’ or ‘independent’. In Chapter 3, we noted the importance of ‘moral and material baggage’ which gets carried forward and reshaped through sequences of negotiations about support between kin. And in Chapter 4, we emphasised the relationship between the making of legitimate excuses and the construction of moral identities or reputations in kin groups. We are using the term ‘moral dimensions’ to cover these important facets of family responsibilities and the processes through which they are negotiated. We should underline that we do not mean ‘moral rules’ about responsibilities, but are using the term to refer to the non-material aspects of negotiations.
