Abstract
The goal of this chapter is to explicate a perspective termed radical-critical theory that questions the most fundamental assumptions of traditional family sociology. Basically, radical critics claim that family sociology, one of the oldest areas in the discipline, reflects its subject matter (rather than explaining it) and, as a consequence, constructs a deeply conservative sociological approach that limits its contribution to sociology and serves to justify the status quo in society.1
Sociology (and here we refer specifically to family sociology) “is a science whose progress is marked less by a perfection of consensus than by a refinement of debate. What gets better is the precision with which we vex each other.”
Geertz (1973, p. 29)
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Osmond, M.W. (1987). Radical-Critical Theories. In: Sussman, M.B., Steinmetz, S.K. (eds) Handbook of Marriage and the Family. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-7151-3_5
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