Friendship

Acknowledgments Introduction Beginnings: Prefriendship and Getting Acquainted Friendship: Its Substance The Extraordinary Relationship Breakdowns, Repairs, and Endings Postscript Bibliography Index

The latest in the successful Oxford Modern Britain series, Kinship and Friendship in Modern Britain provides a succinct introduction to key aspects of kin and friend relationships in Britain today. Graham Allan reviews a cross-section of research to examine the major issues surrounding contemporary kinship and friendship, analysing the personal - and social - consequence of these ties. The author examines key aspects of interpersonal relations to discuss the nature and importance of kinship in the late twentieth century. After studying modern perspectives on informal relationships, he focuses on kinship solidarities, highlighting their increased complexity in modern Britain, and reviewing the obligations and commitments between different categories of kin. In later chapters, he examines patterns of friendship, concentrating in particular on how they are organized and their social implications. Graham Allan also studies alternative views of kinship and friendship as negotiation and as economic exchange, also analysing how relationships may change in later life. Kinship and Friendship in Modern Britain provides the student with an invaluable introduction to the fundamental aspects of the sociology of family and friendship in contemporary British life.

Building on studies in sociology, psychology, and communication as well as her own extensive research, author Kathy Werking presents an organizational framework for studying friendships between the sexes and offers a thorough examination of the character and dynamics of these relationships. She looks at both societal effects and influences as well as the interpersonal dynamics between the participants to explore the development, maintenance, and decline of these friendships; the differences in gender behaviors and roles; topics typically brought up in day-to-day conversations; as well as the challenges and rewards of these relationships. Bringing the research to life, each chapter opens with segments of conversations between cross-sex friends. Chapters delineate the issues involved in cross-sex friendships, covering such topics as what happens when sexual and romantic feelings arise, handling jealous romantic partners, other people's scrutiny of the friendship, and societal barriers to such relationships. Concluding with a critical look at the literature and proposing new directions for future study, this interdisciplinary work provides both a solid reference and a springboard for future research. It serves as a valuable resource for readers interested in gender studies, communications, relationships, social networks, social psychology, sociology, and cultural studies, as well as for family and couple therapists.

This collection of sixteen essays considers evidence for the array of women's alliances in early modern England. The inclusions range over a variety of communities--cities, households, and court--and consider classes of women from vagabonds to queens to explore the traces of women's connections. These clear and lively interdisciplinary essays, combining literary and historical methods and materials, are informed by feminism, queer theory, and studies of race in the early modern period.