Family, property and relations of production in Western Europe

Abstract

This paper addresses itself to a number of problems involved in the theorisation of family structures. A variety of existing sociological and historical approaches are criticised for methodological and conceptual inadequacies, and for their neglect of property relations as a crucial factor in constituting family structures. The paper develops the contention that family structures and their transformation can be understood only in relation to property rights and to the social relations of production. This theoretical orientation is explored with reference to changes in family organisation in western European history, paying particular attention to inheritance practices which are seen as mediating in a key way between the social relations of production and familial and kinship forms.