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Steven Horwitz
St. Lawrence University
USA
ë
 
= arior to the emergence of capitalism, the
family was not an especially nice place
= What we know (and love) as the ³modern
family´ is a product of capitalism
= This makes both progressives and
conservatives uncomfortable
= The mutual freedom of markets and social life
is consistent with (classical) liberalism
ë


 

 
= Go such thing as the ³traditional´ family.
= All social institutions evolve and change
= The post-WW II family was a particular historical
phenomenon, not a universal family structure.
= Important to distinguish the x
 of the family
from the x  of the family.
= What families m
m  is a distinct issue from
what families 
= |onfusion and ambiguity around ³normal´ family
ë

 
= £arriage by choice & love
= The family is nuclear,
private and insulated
= |hidren are
sentimentalized and
childhood is sheltered
= Equality of the sexes and
women have financial
independence more
divorce
ë

 
= The family as an economic institution
= Household = the unit of production
= Family members contributed to production
= This was mostly agricultural, but also small
crafts
= Last names
= £ost lived at the margins
= Also a political institution
= aolitical power for the rich, networks of
cooperation and community for the poor
ë

 
= |ontrast to the modern family:
= £arriage was arranged, but even if chosen, not really
about love
= Women were almost property - |overture laws
= |hildren were economic assets
= Labor and old-age support
= £ultiple pregnancies
= Lack of sentimentality about children
= Families were public institutions
= |hurch, state, and community regulations
= What hasn¶t changed: family is indispensible as
a transmitter of cultural norms and values.
¦
  |
 

= ¦  

= Factories hire non-family
= Separates home and work
= ¦     

= Family size shrinks
= Women and children to home
= £arriage becomes about love
= |hildhood changes
= ˜
 
 
  


 
 
= The state, the church, and the
community all are restrained
ë
|


¦

= Vrowth in female labor
force participation
= Labor demand + Human
|apital = higher wages
= Fall in time needed at home
= Rising wealth = alternatives
= Increase pre-dates 1960s
= Feminist movement was a
result, not a cause
= £ore important: The aill
  


= |apitalism¶s wealth led to two key trends:
= Women¶s financial independence
= Decline in the benefits of specialization by gender
= Thus: marriage offers fewer material benefits
= BUT: larger emotional/psychological role
= It¶s now ALL about love
= Rise in divorce rates is one result
= areferences and constraints
= Wealth and freedom made this inevitable
ë
  | 
= Gew: the demand for same-sex marriage
= |apitalism and its wealth produced:
= The possibility of surviving outside the family
= |ities that made anonymity possible
= A broder ethos of ³anything that¶s peaceful´
= The separation of sex, marriage, and kids
= A change in marriage from economics to love
= The demand for SS£ is the result of these
= Real revolutionary change in the family was when
capitalism made marriage about love.
= Western civilization needs families as norms
transmitters ± the question is whether multiple forms
are able to do so.
˜ 



³The liberal position is based on courage and
confidence, on a preparedness to let change
run its course even if we cannot predict where it
will lead.´ - Hayek, ³Why I am Got a
|onservative´

Free markets produce a social world and

culture that we cannot, and should not try to,
control. Liberalism has a rational optimism that
its results will be desirable.