The institution of the family changed hugely during the course of the Twentieth Century. In this major new work, Göran Therborn provides a global history and sociology, and a comparative political analysis of the family as an institution, focusing on three dimensions of family relations: on the rights and powers of fathers and husbands; on marriage, cohabitation, and extra-marital sexuality; and on fertility and birth-control. Therborn's empirical analysis uses a multi-disciplinary approach to show how the major family systems of the world have been formed and developed. His truly global scope covers the family in:

• Europe and the New World of America and Australia
• West Asia/North Africa
• South and East Asia
• Sub-Saharan Africa
• Creole America and Southeast Asia.

Therborn concludes by assessing what changes the family might see during the next century. This book will be essential reading for anybody with an interest in either the sociology of the history of the family.