|
|
|
MARIAL CENTER COLLOQUIUM Arland Thornton ( The University of Michigan Director, Population Studies Center; Research Professor, Population Studies Center; Professor, Sociology Department; Research Professor, Survey Research Center) The Developmental Paradigm, Reading History Sideways, and Family Myths Wednesday, December 6, 4:00 p.m.-6:00 p.m Dr. Arland Thornton specializes in the study of marriage, family, and the life course. Currently, his work focuses on intergenerational relations, cohabitation, marriage, divorce, reproductive behavior, living arrangements, and gender roles in Nepal, Taiwan, and the United States. Dr. Thornton has authored a book and a number of articles on the effect of societal change on the family in the United States and Asia. His book credits include Reading History Sideways: The Fallacy and Enduring Impact of the Developmental Paradigm, Marriage and Cohabitation (with William Axinn and Yu Xie) and Social Change and the Family in Thailand (with Hui-Sheng Lin). In Reading History Sideways, Dr. Thornton critically examines the long discredited notion of a universal linear development of societies along primitive to more advanced stages. He demonstrates how this assumption has permeated Western ideas and values about the family, colored the interpretation of Western trends in family structure, marriage, fertility, and parent-child relations, supported the myth of the great family transition in Northwest Europe, and influenced non-Western development. Dr. Thornton brings in evidence to dispel the myth of the great family transition but argues that developmental thinking, methods and conclusions generate a powerful set of propositions—that he calls developmental idealism—that has driven many fundamental changes in family life around the world. Developmental idealism venerates a modern society that is industrialized, urbanized, highly educated, and with high levels of knowledge and technology. Further, it signifies a preference for modern families, defined as having high levels of individualism, high status of women, mature marriage, marriage arranged by the couple, the autonomy of children, small households, and controlled and low fertility. Developmental idealism suggests a causal relationship between modern society and modern family and promotes the idea that individuals have the right to be free and equal, with social relationships based on consent. Dr. Thornton demonstrates how the dissemination of developmental idealism is often met with evaluation, resistance, and adaptation, emerging in a hybridized form, a mixture of developmental idealism with indigenous influences. He is involved with Developmental Idealism Studies in Argentina and Nepal.
DIRECTIONS TO THE MARIAL CENTER The MARIAL Center is located on the 4th floor of the main building of Emory's Briarcliff Campus,
|