University of Manchester.
Br J Sociol. 2018 Sep;69(3):626-645. doi: 10.1111/1468-4446.12308. Epub 2017 Sep 14.
Drawing on an analysis of qualitative interview data from a study of formalized same-sex relationships (civil partnerships) this paper examines the enduring significance of marriage and family as social institutions. In doing so, it intervenes in current debates in the sociology of family and personal life about how such institutions are undermined by reflexivity or bolstered by convention. Against the backdrop of dominating sociological frames for understanding the links between the changing nature of marriage and family and same-sex relationship recognition, the paper analyses the diverse and overlapping ways (including the simple, relational, strategic, ambivalent and critical ways) in which same-sex partners reflexively constructed and engaged with marriage and family conventions. My analysis suggests that instead of viewing reflexivity and convention as mutually undermining, as some sociologists of family and personal life do, it is insightful to explore how diverse forms of reflexivity and convention interact in everyday life to reconfigure the social institutions of marriage and family, but do not undermine them as such. I argue the case for recognizing the ways in which 'reflexive convention', or reflexive investment in convention, contributes to the continuing significance of marriage and family as social institutions.
本文通过对一项关于正式同性伴侣关系（民事结合）的定性访谈数据的分析，考察了婚姻和家庭作为社会制度的持久意义。在这样做的过程中，本文介入了当前关于家庭社会学和个人生活的辩论，即这些制度是如何被反思性削弱或被传统性增强的。在理解婚姻和家庭的变化性质与同性伴侣关系认可之间联系的主导社会学框架的背景下，本文分析了同性伴侣以不同的、重叠的方式（包括简单的、关系的、策略的、矛盾的和批判的方式）反思性地构建和参与婚姻和家庭传统。我的分析表明，我们不应该像一些家庭和个人生活的社会学家那样，将反思性和传统性视为相互削弱的因素，而是应该深入探讨反思性和传统性的不同形式如何在日常生活中相互作用，重新配置婚姻和家庭这两个社会制度，但不会削弱它们作为社会制度的地位。我主张承认“反思性传统”或对传统的反思性投资的方式如何有助于婚姻和家庭作为社会制度的持续意义。
