Stephanie Coontz

  • The Moynihan Family Circus

    WHEN IT COMES to social thinking about families, there is such a thing as “American exceptionalism.” Other Western countries tend to view people’s life trajectories in light of their place in the class structure. But ever since the late-nineteenth century, Americans have typically attributed people’s successes or failures to their family structures and values. This is, of course, a convenient way to reconcile our faith in individual achievement with the reality of racial and economic inequality.

    A good way to begin situating the current conversation about family in America is to look back at