Abstract
In pre-industrial societies there was no sharp division between the world of work and the world of bed and board. Economic activities took place within the organisation of the family and usually involved all the adult members of the family household. The family was controlled by a patriarchal figure who maintained his authority by his control of the economic resources of the group and was legitimated by a religious ideology which emphasised the woman’s duty to obey and the husband’s duty to provide. The family comprised a large number of kin, usually spanning three or more generations. It was organised with established roles for the young and the old as well as clearly defined roles for the adult men and women. The centre of the family was the marital pair, but adult unmarried brothers and sisters of the married couple, as well as their parents and their children, were present. The family provided a total form of security for its members, with an ordered accepted progression from one status to the next. The fusion of economic and familial activities and the close relationship to the land tended to combat feelings of alienation from work because they led to a natural harmony between individuals and their environments. The pre-industrial family, thus, comprised an ordered society in which the problems of the various age groups were catered for and the uncertainties of life were minimised. The large size of the family and the large number of economically active adults provided a measure of insurance against the economic uncertainties of the day.
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Suggested Further Reading
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© 1978 David Brown and Michael J. Harrison
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Brown, D., Harrison, M.J. (1978). The Family and Industrialisation. In: A Sociology of Industrialisation: an introduction. Macmillan Business Management and Administration Series. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-15924-6_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-15924-6_5
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