«Legami forti» e storia della famiglia in Italia. Questioni di metodo, questioni di genere

«Strong ties» and the history of the family in Italy. Questions of method, questions of gender
This study seeks to examine the use, in the social history of modern and contemporary Italy, of the paradigm of the «strong family», currently much used by demographers and sociologists for the study of the family and welfare in the societies of mediterranean Europe. Those historical studies on the family and family ties in Italy which have taken into account the implications of gender and adopted a microana- lytic perspective counsel caution in extending such an inter- pretive framework to historical problems like the departure of the young from the family house, the connection between kinship and assistance, and the relationships between generations, as well as in assuming the naturalness and the enduring quality of «strong ties». The results of such historical research suggest, on the contrary, the possibility of identifying a series of critical phases in the processes of social and cultural construction of the maternal role, of the attribution of assistential responsibilities to the family, and of changes in the familial organization of labour and residence. History thus reveals possibilities for critical interpretation in the shaping of ideas about current welfare policies.