family-economics

This is an excellent get-started book for those who are discouraged about getting their home under control. I first read this book ten years ago when I was a newlywed, and it was a real encouragement to me. You will find creative ways to organize and get control of clutter; manage your time; kid-friendly chore ideas and age-appropriate chore charts; super ideas on how to save money; nutrition information and how to eat smart, etc. It has a fresh, creative, no-nonsense approach to making the most of your time, money, and resources. It's super for those of us who have not had a lot of practical training in good home management and great for those who have. I find it a great motivator every time I read it! It encourages you to roll up your sleeves and get started!

Great gift to those who constantly talk about wanting to retire early, but don't have a clue on how to start an early retirment plan. This book will definitely get them on track to retiring early.

For those who have some plans in place for early retirment, this book will help them examine their past and present decisions to see if they are on track. Also, it will help them with future decisions to ensure that early retirement becomes a reality.

Loved those "From the Hammock" comments - quick and easy to read!

Boy, did this book come in handy for us! It gave us a framework in which to discuss finances and other touchy subjects productively. We were both mid-life and owned property. I had been married before (no children), but my husband never had. We decided to have a legal contract, as well as a personal contract, and this book provided guidelines for creating both. Much as media exposure leads one to think otherwise, the contracting process allowed us to develop a fuller trust of one another by the time we married.

The Greek word "oikos," from which the word "economy" is derived, originally referred to the economy of the household. This premodern conception of the relationship between the household and the economy was "home economics" in the truest sense. In this book, one of a number of excellent titles from the Religion, Culture, and Family Project at the University of Chicago Divinity School, Max Stackhouse shows how the economic systems and ideologies that so profoundly influence family life are, in turn, shaped by theology.

The structural changes in our society as it has moved through its hunter-gatherer, agricultural, and industrialized phases have gone hand-in-hand with changes in our economy, ranging from capitalism, to socialism, to postindustrialism, to the new globalism. All of these changes have had a profound impact on the structure, purpose, and well-being of families. Perhaps the most coherent and comprehensive of the theological models that have sought to navigate these changing social, economic, and familial tides is the "covenant theology" that arose within the Calvinist Reformed tradition. That theology places the emphasis on choice and consent that characterizes so much classical and contemporary discourse within a framework of the interrelation of the "created orders" of church, state, and family.

In laying out this theological and economic theory of the family, Stackhouse touches on many of the most pressing issues in the family debate, such as the Protestant debate over homosexuality, the normative structure of sexuality, the impact of materialism and consumerism on the household, the libertarian reduction of individualistic rational-choice economic theory, the division of household labor, the impact of poverty and welfare on families and children, and the idea of covenant marriage and relationship. For those who follow American politics, Stackhouse's book is a particularly provocative integration of the liberal emphasis on economics and the conservative focus on the family. In the end, it is a timely study of the theological basis for our commitments to what Freud identified as the central features of personhood, namely, work and love.

The book, Crested Kimono, is an excellent example of the potential for the integration of real life experiences with sociological theories. It is also extremely well written and tends to read like a novel. Professor Hamabata, an American citizen of Japanese ancestry, divided his book into seven chapters: (1) Boundaries, (2) Perspectives, (3) Households, (4) Death, (5) Authority, (6) Marriage, and (7) Love. I shall briefly describe each of these chapters, making personal comments where it seems necessary. I shall conclude with a general critique. The first chapter, "Boundaries," explained how Professor Hamabata was able to establish relationships with some elite Japanese families-thus making his research possible. When he first arrived in Japan, Hamabata was planning to conduct ethnographic research among top business executives. However, the contacts that he made turned out to be quite superficial. Indeed, Hamabata "wondered why [he] had traveled all the way ! to Tokyo only to hear what could be read in documents available in almost any American University." Moreover, he suffered from two major problems of identity: (1) Was he a Japanese or an American. (2) Was he a sexually available male or a immature student? After deciding to play back-and-forth with the first question, he determined that it would be best (in terms of his study) to assume the identity of a "immature graduate student." Yet, in assuming such an identity, he was soon shut out of the "man's world," which he had hoped to gain access to. However, by spending a lot of time with the wives and children of elite businessmen, he was able to obtain a lot of information on love and marriage-but the importance was yet unclear. In chapter two, "Perspectives," Hamabata discovers that the lives of elite businessmen "cannot be understood apart from the women who act as their partners." This short chapter represents an attempt to demonstrate the legitimacy of basing hi! s study (almost entirely) on observations and interactions ! of elite women and their children. Hamabata wants the reader to believe that his study is somehow advancing beyond the traditional wisdom of sociologists. He wants to go beyond the "neat boundary that sociologists have usually drawn around the family." In short, he is arguing that his idea about Japanese wives has broken new ground. However, the argument that his study is ground-breaking in its initial idea is somewhat misleading. I would agree that his study has indeed added knowledge to the field, but its success was largely based on his unique circumstances (e.g., physical appearance, language ability, and personal connections). More to the point, it is misleading to suggest that scholars of Japan have failed to see the connection between the family and the economy. Many writers before Hamabata have noticed the connections that women have with and within the family enterprise. For instance, as Suzanne Vogal writes, "the interdependence of the husband's and wives! roles in the division of labor is merely a manifestation of the interdependence that characterizes Japanese society" (Vogal, 1978: 16). Likewise, Ann Imamura writes, "the housewife has the greater responsibility of managing the household, including the finances, by herself" (Imamura, 1987: 83). So the new insight about Japanese women that Hamabata claims to have is not as profound as he thinks it is. However, as with the first man to walk on the moon, the actual success of his study-as opposed to its original inspiration-is to be praised. In chapter three of his book, entitled "Households," Hamabata explains how households are formed and constituted among the upper crust of the Tokyo elite. He explained in detail the importance of succession and inheritance in the Japanese household. I was especially amazed by the cold and calculating nature of the Japanese mother he described. The mother actually went so far as to hire a private detective to research the background of! a prospective son-in-law. Similarly, because her own son ! had "entered a third ranked university," she was considering denying him the head ship of the family by bringing in a mukoo-yoshi. All that sort of behavior would be fascinating for the cultural game theorists, who model these behaviors mathematically. The "bringing in a mukoo-yoshi" is actually quite rare among most of the Japanese she knew. So, one criticism of Hamabata's third chapter is that seems to claim this sort of behavior is wide spread in Japanese society. But maybe the mukoo-yoshi phenomena is more concentrated among the elites of Japanese society. However, Professor Hamabata rarely, if ever, considers the enormous class difference of his "informants." In chapter four, "Death," Hamabata describes the process whereby the Japanese deal with a death in the family. He goes into some detail about how the dead family member is "removed from the realm of the living and ultimately from the world of men." It was particularly interesting to note the lack of stro! ng belief that Hamabata's informants had in the "afterlife." When pressed, none of them would unequivocally declare a belief in ancestral spirits. At least for the upper crust of Japanese society, the dead are treated in a very calculating and utilitarian-like fashion. In Hamabata's interpretation, all the rituals for the dead seemed to be more for the benefit of the living. And the dead often took center stage in familial power struggles. In contrast to many of the observations Hamabata made, I think his discussion of death applies widely across Japanese society. As an English teacher in Osaka, I spoke with hundreds of Japanese and only met one who expressed a sincere belief in the existence of dead ancestors. I believe that Japanese live somewhat of a duel life in this regard. For the most part, they accept the theory of evolution. Yet, at certain times of the year, they suspend their scientific belief in order to strengthen their family bonds. It all seems very r! ational. Apparently for Japanese, "God was made for man," ! whereas American Christians tend to assume that "man was made for God." In chapter five, "Authority," Hamabata largely describes the struggles for power that occurred after grandfather Moriuchi had passed away. Mr. Moriuchi did not specify which of his son's should assume the dominate position in the ie structure. He had left the instructions that his trusted assistant should temporarily hold the position until he (the trusted assistant) could make the judgment as to a successor. But this created quite a power struggle within the extended family. After several brothers had experienced financial failures, it eventually became clear who would succeed. With the resolution of the matter, the family enterprises were better able to move on towards economic success. I thought this chapter was especially insightful in its providing real life examples for Nakane's more theoretical insights. As Nakane writes, "No matter how strong the unity, no matter how happy the group, the s! udden removal of the leader is a severe blow and automatically brings a household rebellion" (Nakane, 1970: 44).

This book is an excellent resource for anyone interested in culture, Silicon Valley, and the ethnographic methodology. From the first page, the reader is drawn into the people and unique culture of a technology based community. The author simulaneously paints an accurate portrait of the South San Francisco Bay Area while intoducing us to the complex lives of individuals who live, work, and volunteer there. This book is a sharp contrast to jargon-laced papers or tedious textbooks. Information on the area and culture are wrapped around the narratives of real people and their ability to survive in an exceptionally fluid society.

Would recommend that everyone read this book. I never understood estate planning until now. This book has been so helpful. Thanks.

Heidi Vaughan's account of her family's expatriate experience in Norway will give anyone thinking about doing an overseas assignment a real and sincere look at life as a foreigner far from home. Ms. Vaughan takes the reader through her family's first year away, using a lighthearted approach to the very serious subject of overseas living. Diary of an Oil Expat Family offers honest insight into the ups, downs, and shocks of expat life and will be of tremendous use for anyone contemplating a move abroad.

This is a very complete workbook that explains the process of getting all your items together for the lawyers and for you own peace of mind. It contains worksheets for getting everything from the marriage certificate, and childrens birth certificates, to where is the money, stock portfolio, and insurance policies. I really liked the household inventory worksheets. This made dividing up the martial assest easier for me and for my ex-husband and saved us time and lawyer fees too. I think that this is a must have book for the person getting a divorce or for anyone who wants to get their life in some kind of order.

In the same way that the last generation kept Dr. Spock's book on hand, you'll dog-ear this book -- to help your kids become super savers, savvy shoppers, cautious about credit cards, and suspicious of advertising hype. Bodnar addresses the multitude of dilemmas faced by parents at every stage of their child's developing financial awareness.