ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the key concepts discussed in the preceding chapters of this book. The book discusses the utility of M. Foucault’s theory of discourse and his power/knowledge formulation for the analysis of the relationships between the law, the family, the state and society. It shows how familial groupings other than the traditional nuclear family are rendered different by social, political and legal discourse. The book demonstrates how the law has responded to technological developments that allow women to have children without the trappings of conventional heterosexuality. It examines how the perfect mother is discursively produced through discourse and how she is defined through the meeting of all her children’s needs. The book explores how policy on child support suggests that the best way for lone mothers to get off state benefit is through paid employment. It outlines how fathers’ groups argue that non-resident fathers are sometimes excluded from the first family after separation.
