George K. Behlmer

A fantastic (and dense) study of "family values" and the public programs aimed at it in Victorian England. Look through my status updates for examples!


My favorite quotes:
"we persist in eulogizing the way we never were...our present family 'crisis' is not so much about the need for thicker doors and higher walls as about constructing a different sort of community--one in which the private and public spheres are treated as symbiotic rather than antagonistic."

"Although it is convenient to locate social salvation in a bygone era of inviolate family values, this era defies discovery...at no time was the English home seen as sufficient unto itself."

"Those weary of the politics of panic may find some solace in recalling that social disintegration, like beauty, remains very much in the eye of the beholder."… (plus d'informations)