Randall Collins (University of Pennsylvania): Sexual Revolution and the Future of the Family

Summary

In this thought-provoking lecture, Professor Randall Collins explores the historical and sociological aspects of sexual revolutions and their impact on the family unit. He delves into the evolution of courtship, the rise of the feminist movement, and the increasing acceptance of non-heteronormative relationships. Collins discusses the contentious issues surrounding abortion and gender politics, highlighting the complex interplay between personal freedom, political regulation, and societal attitudes. He also examines the role of technology in shaping modern relationships and speculates on the future of the family in the context of a digitalized world.

Takeaways

• 🎓 The lecture by Professor Randall Collins, a distinguished American sociologist, focused on the historical and contemporary aspects of sexual revolutions and the future of the family.
• 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 The family, as the oldest human institution, has undergone significant transformations from being politically and economically centered to becoming more focused on personal and sexual relations.
• 🔄 The shift in the core of the family from political and economic to personal and sexual has led to greater individual choice and explicit political regulation of sexual behavior.
• 🤔 Current disputes over sexuality and gender, including the upsurge in anti-abortion movements, are seen as part of a larger struggle over the remaining aspects of the family and its future.
• 🤱 Abortion debates are primarily about freedom of sexual action, intertwined with issues like homosexuality, publicizing sexual identity, and the fight to eradicate gender distinctions.
• 🌍 The sexual revolution and related movements, such as the women's rights movement and LGBTQ+ rights, have been worldwide phenomena with notable exceptions like the Muslim world.
• 🏳️‍🌈 The LGBTQ+ movement has evolved significantly, from fighting for basic freedoms to asserting sexual identity as a central identity in politics and society.
• 📉 The decline in marriage rates and the rise in non-marital births reflect a broader shift in societal attitudes towards traditional family structures and sexual norms.
• 🔮 Sociological tools can be used to forecast the future of the family, considering factors like government regulations, political movements, and technological advancements like the internet.
• 🌐 The digitalization of relationships and sexuality through the internet may lead to a decivilizing process, with less physical interaction and potentially less civility in relationships.
• 🔄 The future of the family may involve a re-evaluation of its role in society, with potential for both traditional and non-traditional family structures to coexist or transform further.

Q & A

What is the main topic of Professor Randall Collins' talk?

The main topic of Professor Randall Collins' talk is the sexual revolutions, the future of the family, and the current disputes over sexuality and gender.

How does Collins relate the anti-abortion movement to the sexual revolution?

Collins argues that the anti-abortion movement is a conservative response to the sexual revolution, viewing it as an attempt to restrict sexual freedom and roll back the changes in societal attitudes towards non-marital sex and the acceptance of various erotic practices.

What is the historical context of the shift in family structure according to Collins?

Collins explains that modernity began by replacing family organization with bureaucracy, leading to states regulating the family household from outside. The core of the family has become personal and sexual rather than political and economic, with a focus on individual choice.

How does Collins describe the role of the state in the family unit?

Collins describes the state's role as one of external regulation, where states began to inscribe everyone in the roles of the state as individuals, marking a shift from the family as the building block of power to the state's oversight and control over family matters.

What is the significance of the term 'gender identity' in the context of the talk?

The term 'gender identity' is significant as it represents the struggle to eradicate gender distinctions and the assertion of one's sexual identity as a central identity in politics, particularly in the context of publicizing one's sexual identity in schools and other public spaces.

How does Collins explain the resurgence of the anti-abortion movement?

Collins suggests that the resurgence of the anti-abortion movement is a reaction to the perceived decline of traditional family values and the increase in casual, non-marital sex. It is seen as a conservative effort to reassert the confining of sex to marriage and to push back against the sexual revolution of the mid-20th century.

What is the sociological explanation for the increase in people living alone?

The increase in people living alone is attributed to a combination of factors, including the rise of individualism, changes in social attitudes towards non-traditional family structures, and the impact of digitalization on social relationships, leading to more people choosing solitary lifestyles.

How does Collins view the impact of the internet on the future of the family?

Collins suggests that the internet and digitalization may lead to a future where most people work from home and interact primarily online. This could result in a decline in traditional family structures, with physical contact and interaction rituals becoming more privileged and thus the family potentially surviving as an enclave rather than a universal social institution.

What is the significance of the term 'anomie' in the context of the talk?

The term 'anomie' is used to describe the state of normlessness or lack of social cohesion that can result from the rapid social changes and movements discussed in the talk, such as the sexual revolution and the struggle over gender identity. It reflects the sense of disorientation and uncertainty experienced by some in the face of these transformations.

How does Collins address the issue of gender-neutral language and its relation to social movements?

Collins discusses the issue of gender-neutral language as part of a broader struggle over what remains of the family and what will replace it. He notes the political and social movements advocating for the use of non-gendered pronouns and the recognition of diverse gender identities, indicating a shift towards more fluid and inclusive understandings of gender.

What is the role of the government in regulating sexuality according to the talk?

According to the talk, the government plays a significant role in regulating sexuality through explicit political measures that either restrict or permit certain sexual behaviors and practices. This regulation has become more pronounced over the 20th century and continues to be a contentious issue in the context of social and political movements.

Outlines

00:00

📝 Introduction and Acknowledgements

The paragraph begins with the host welcoming everyone to the final session of a conference and introduces Professor Randall Collins, a distinguished American sociologist from California. The host expresses hope that Professor Collins is online and mentions having sent him a text message. The speaker also acknowledges the contributions of earlier speakers, including Richard Senate, who discussed the situation in Ukraine. The host sets the stage for Professor Collins's talk on sexual revolutions and the future of the family, expressing curiosity about how he might connect his topic to the current events in Ukraine.

05:02

🌍 Societal Shifts and the Sexual Revolution

In this paragraph, Professor Collins delves into the historical and societal shifts that have taken place, particularly focusing on the transformation of the family as an institution. He discusses how the family's role evolved from being the foundation of political, military, and economic power to a more personal and sexual focus in modern times. The speaker also touches on the increasing political regulation of sexual behavior and the rise of movements advocating for various sexual rights. He argues that the recent surge in anti-abortion movements is tied to broader issues of sexual freedom and the struggle to redefine gender roles and identity.

10:02

💡 The Sexual Revolution and its Impact

This paragraph continues the discussion on the sexual revolution, highlighting its impact on courtship, dating, and social interactions. The speaker describes how the younger generation began to mix without supervision, leading to a culture where sexual expression became a central aspect of life. The paragraph also addresses the rise in divorce rates, the emergence of the 'teenager' as a social category, and the increase in crime rates. The speaker connects these societal changes to the broader context of the sexual revolution and the evolving perceptions of marriage and family life.

15:06

🎭 Changing Social Norms and Expressions

The speaker in this paragraph explores how changes in social norms and self-presentation have occurred alongside the sexual revolution. The evolution of fashion trends, the depiction of sexualities in media, and the shift towards informalization in attire are discussed. The paragraph also examines the impact of the Jazz Age and the liberalization of Hollywood film censorship on societal attitudes towards sex. The speaker notes the rise of obscenity in language and its normalization in various aspects of society, reflecting a shift in cultural values and norms.

20:08

🏳️ The Politics of Identity and Sexuality

This paragraph delves into the political and social movements centered around sexuality and identity. The speaker discusses the progression of movements advocating for women's rights, LGBTQ+ rights, and the recognition of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities. The paragraph also touches on the controversies surrounding sex education, the debate over non-gendered pronouns, and the political activism around gender-neutral language. The speaker posits that these movements reflect a broader struggle over the definition and future of the family.

25:08

🤔 Reflections on the Future of the Family

In the final paragraph, the speaker reflects on the future of the family, considering the impact of government regulations, political movements, and technological advancements. The speaker discusses the potential outcomes of increased automation and the internet's influence on social relationships and sexual behavior. The paragraph also contemplates the possibility of the family evolving into a more exclusive and privileged institution, contrasting with the trend of increased individualism and solitary living. The speaker concludes with a discussion on the enduring significance of the family as a place of physical contact, interaction, and emotional connection.

Keywords

💡Sexual Revolutions

The term 'Sexual Revolutions' refers to significant societal shifts in sexual behavior, attitudes, and norms. In the context of the video, it is associated with the historical change in the way society views and regulates sexual behavior, including the recognition of various forms of erotic practices and the politicization of sexuality. The speaker discusses the impact of these revolutions on the family structure and the ongoing debates surrounding issues like abortion and gender identity.

💡Abortion

Abortion is the medical procedure to terminate a pregnancy. In the video, it is a central topic of discussion, representing the conflict between individual freedom and societal regulation of sexual behavior. The speaker argues that the anti-abortion movement is primarily about the freedom of sexual action and is part of a larger struggle over the future of the family and the role of the state in personal matters.

💡Family

The family is portrayed as the oldest human institution, traditionally serving as the building block of society. In the video, the concept of family is explored in relation to its transformation over time, from a political and economic unit to one centered on personal and sexual relationships. The speaker examines the future of the family amidst sexual revolutions and the various social movements influencing it.

💡Identity Politics

Identity politics refers to political positions based on the interests and perspectives of social groups with which people identify, often related to their sex, race, religion, or other social characteristics. In the video, the term is used to describe the increasing focus on sexuality as a central aspect of personal identity and political activism, particularly in relation to movements for LGBTQ+ rights and women's rights.

💡Gender

Gender refers to the socially constructed roles, behaviors, activities, and expectations that a society considers appropriate for men and women. In the transcript, the discussion of gender is tied to the ongoing societal changes and debates over what constitutes acceptable gender identities and expressions, including the struggle to eradicate traditional gender distinctions.

💡Sociology

Sociology is the scientific study of society and human interaction within social groups. In the video, sociology is the lens through which the speaker analyzes and interprets the changes in sexual behavior, family structures, and social movements. The speaker, a sociologist, uses sociological tools to forecast the future of the family and understand the underlying causes of social phenomena.

💡Political Regulation

Political regulation refers to the control or management of certain activities or behaviors by the government or governing bodies through the enforcement of laws and policies. In the context of the video, political regulation is discussed in relation to how it has been used to restrict or permit various sexual behaviors and practices, shaping societal norms and personal freedoms.

💡Liberalism

Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on individual rights, equality, and the protection of civil liberties. It is often associated with progressive social change and support for personal freedoms. In the video, liberalism is contrasted with conservative ideologies, particularly in the context of debates over issues like abortion and LGBTQ+ rights.

💡Conservatism

Conservatism is a political and social philosophy promoting the maintenance of traditional institutions, values, and practices. It often resists change and advocates for the preservation of what is considered 'traditional' or 'normal'. In the video, conservatism is associated with the anti-abortion movement and the desire to uphold what is perceived as the traditional family structure.

💡LGBTQ+

LGBTQ+ is an acronym that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, and others, and represents a diverse community of individuals with varying sexual orientations, gender identities, and expressions. In the video, LGBTQ+ rights and the recognition of non-binary identities are discussed as part of the broader societal shifts in attitudes towards sexuality and gender.

Highlights

The family as the oldest human institution and its transformation over time.

The shift from kinship-based households to political and economic bureaucracy in modernity.

The increasing political regulation of personal and sexual behavior in the 20th century.

The connection between the sexual revolution and the current disputes over sexuality and gender.

The upsurge in anti-abortion movements and their link to freedom of sexual action.

The historical context of abortion struggles and the sexual revolution.

The transformation of societal attitudes towards nonmarital sex and its impact on family structure.

The evolution of the women's movement and the fight for equal legal rights and employment opportunities.

The emergence of the teenager as a new social category and its influence on crime rates and social movements.

The rise of the counterculture and its emphasis on antinomian values.

The changing trends in self-presentation and media depiction of sexualities.

The impact of the internet era on social movements and the ease of mobilization.

The potential future of the family as a privileged enclave in a society of isolated individuals.

The role of government regulations in shaping the future of the family and social institutions.

The intricate relationship between the anti-abortion movement and the defense of traditional family values.

The potential decline of the abortion issue due to less sexual activity among younger generations.

The internal divisions within the LGBTQ+ community and the challenges of forming a united political front.

The influence of the digitalization of relationships and its possible decivilizing effect on society.

The importance of understanding the knowledge position when formulating scientific statements about social issues.

Transcripts

thank you very

um Welcome to our final uh plary session

with Professor Randall Collins uh all

the way from California I think it's

quite early in the morning uh for him

I'm hoping he's go I know he's online

I've seen his picture and I've sent him

a text message I think he will be uh

switched through to us uh any moment now

but we're very fortunate to have two

very distinguished American

sociologists speaking there is hi

Randall I'm just interrup I'm just

introducing you sorry for the slight

delay oh you're good great thanks um

we've had two distinguished American uh

sociologists speaking to us this

afternoon even if uh even if uh Richard

Senate now prefers to describe himself

as an ex American um uh uh Randall

Collins is widely recognized as I happen

to know that yop hows Blum uh regarded

Randall as the greatest living uh

sociologist and if that doesn't put

Randall off his stride at the beginning

of this talk it'll be uh difficult to

think of anything that would

um I should tell you Randall that

earlier this afternoon uh Richard Senate

um Richard Senate spoke about uh Ukraine

he was due to speak about performing um

performing

Civility and he said he thought it was

in practice quite impossible not to talk

about Ukraine well

um randle's topic is uh sexual

revolutions

um uh sexual revolutions and the future

of the family I'd be interested to see

if he can make this read sexual

revolutions the family and Ukraine but

we won't challenge you to do that

R Stephen I'm going to just stick to my

text the family is the oldest human

institution until the end of the Middle

Ages the kinship based household was the

building block of political and military

power as well as economic production and

consumption modernity began by replacing

family organization with

bureaucracy states began to regulate the

Family household from outside inscribing

everyone on the roles of the state as

individuals the core of the family has

become personal and sexual rather than

political and

econom what is personal and sexual has

become Freer more a matter of individual

choice at the same time sexual behavior

has become subject to explicit political

regulation either restricting or

permitting from the early 20th century

onwards there have been increasingly

militant movements on one side or

another of what is sexually permitted

encouraged or

prohibited in this context I will

consider current disputes over sexuality

and gender why is there an upsurge in

anti-abortion movements just now I will

argue that abortion is primarily about

freedom of sexual

action it is part of an overarching

array of issues that include

homosexuality which is to say more kinds

of acceptable erotic practices

also publicizing one's sexual identity

in schools and using toilets and in

festivals and parades not merely private

freedom of sexuality but asserting it as

one's Central identity politics has

become much more centered on sexuality

than at any time in

history these movements are Allied to a

united front with a struggle to

eradicate gender

distinctions both sides of the dispute

mobilize move M ments and propos laws

each protesting against the other in

larger perspective it is a struggle over

what remains of the family and what will

replace it I will sketch the history of

abortion struggles the sexual Revolution

and nonmarital sex homosexual and

transgender movements and the Battle of

pronouns and the perceived decline of

the family this will help answer the

question why anti-abortion movements now

I will end with some sociological tools

for forecasting the future of the

family I hope you'll excuse me for

relying on American data some of these

Trends originated in Europe on the whole

it has been a worldwide trajectory with

the notable exception of the Muslim

World abortion is argued in

philosophical and Theological terms on

the one hand the protection and

sacredness of life on the other the

right to choose rights over one's own

body but

sociologically abstract ideas and

beliefs are not the ultimate explanation

of what people

do it begs the question why do some

people sometimes believe one way or the

other when and why are they vehement

about their beliefs when do they

organize social and political movements

about them arguments about abortion are

stated altruistically it has nothing to

do with me personally I am concerned for

The Unborn children for the right to

life generally on the pro-abortion side

there is General AR the general argument

that everyone has the right over one's

own body but also sometimes personal I

have the right to an abortion if I want

one sociologically The Ground Zero is

always pragmatic a practical matter of

how people live what is the Human Action

at issue behind the abortion

argument abortion is about sex erotic

Behavior why do some women want abortion

because they have sex without marriage

in premarital and extramarital sex it is

freedom to without worrying about

pregnancy and thus is also a form of

birth control for married

couples up through the early 20th

century an unwanted pregnancy was a

fatal life event for a woman the

exception was for rich women who could

keep it secret and farm out an unwanted

child to a woman of the lower classes to

care for it to have a child outside of

wedlock was scandalous shameful to be

hidden away if possible it was a badge

of Shame punished by being ostracized

The Scarlet Letter in Hawthorne's novel

about New England Puritans worse yet the

mother could be executed for murder if

she had an abortion

or dispose of the infant through

infanticide this was the plot of G's

F that was the historical scenario today

some abortions happen because married

women don't want to have a child at the

time because the child is malformed

because the mother is in danger or

because it interrupts her career most

abortions are to unmarried women in

their

20s the taboo on unmarried pregnancy

fell away rap ridly in some countries

first in Scandinavia then in the US in

the 1950s and 60s in part this was

because of much greater acceptance of

sex before marriage in part because

young middle class couples started

living together without getting married

a trend that grew very rapidly at the

turn of the 1970s and was accepted

surprisingly soon by the older

population before that time living in

sin as it was called or Shack up was

regarded as something poor or non-white

people did but within a few years it

became normal to hear someone introduced

as this is my partner rather than this

is my husband or this is my wife the

same terminological shift in ordinary

language was adopted by homosexual

couples who more recently have shifted

back to using husband and husband or

wife and wife after winning political

and legal battles over gay

marriage the political legal battle for

abortion happened at the same time in

Scandinavia limited abortion rights

began in the 1930s and expanded in

1973 the US Supreme Court ruled in the

lawsuit Ro v Wade that abortion was a

right covered in the abstract language

of the Constitution the anti-abortion

movement dates from that

period the arguments are on the ground

of legal philosophy translated into

social practice to restore the ban on

abortion means that sex should be

confined to marriage this means rolling

back the sexual revolution of mid 20th

century on the other side my body is my

own means in Practical terms I can have

sex with whoever and whenever I want men

traditionally had this right why

shouldn't

women we are approaching an answer to

the question why is there a Resurgence

of the anti-abortion movement just now

which is to say a movement against

casual non-marital sex this should be

seen in the context of the sexual

Revolution starting about 100 years

ago the 1920s saw a revolution in

courtship dating and partying replaced

parents steering their children's

marriage choices now the younger

generation mixed Sexes without

supervision creating a culture where

drinking dancing and necking was a main

excitement of life rather than a

transition to marriage it was a

rebellious thrill in the United States

where alcohol was prohibited but the

same style emerged in England and

Germany

also in the 1930s and 40s divorce began

to be common no longer disreputable and

scandalous by 1960 almost 50% of

marriages were ending in divorce a level

relatively constant since then the 1950s

was also the era of the teenager a new

social category working class youths no

longer entered the labor force as

Government made them attend secondary

school with free time on their hands

teens created gangs and Social Clubs got

their own style of music and dancing

with a tone of rebellion against the

traditional middle class the rise in

crime rates began at this time

continuing from the 1950s into the

1990s political and social movements had

existed before what was different in the

1960s was that they were based among the

young during a huge increase in

University

students we called ourselves the new

Left distinguished from the old left by

being less concerned about ideology than

lifestyle culture icons were the hippies

dropouts from school and career living

in communes where they shared

psychedelic drugs and free love in

reality most were weakend hippies and

most of the free love commun

disintegrated rather quickly over

jealousy and Status ranking the main

Legacy of the free love period was that

cohabitation living together without

getting married became widespread even

becoming a census category in the

1970s the 1970s were dominated by

sexually based movements first the f

movement sought equal legal rights and

employment opportunities for women plus

its militant lesbian Branch condemning

sexual intercourse as the root of the

problem in the 70s and increasing with

each decade through the present a chain

of homosexual movements demanded not

only freedom from disc discrimination

but the recognition of a new public

vocabulary gender rather than sex gay

rather than homosexual and so on this

this has been a Cascade of movements

each building on its predecessors in

tactics ideology and lifestyle each

finding a new issue on which to

fight something deeper has been going on

for a longer period of time like the new

left the overall ethos has been

antinomian the counterculture of status

reversal these rebellious social

movements were paralleled by shifts in

self-presentation demeanor and in the

mediate depiction of

sexualities in the

1920s women's skirts became shorter

young women adopted a more Manish look

they also began to show a lot more flesh

body covering swimsuits became briefer

women athletes exercised and competed in

shorts the trend also existed in

socialist and Soviet communist

organizations and in the nudist movement

popular in Germany in 1946 came the

bikini created in France and named for

an island where an atom bomb was

exploded eventually there were men in

thongs and women going topless at

beaches the 60s and 70s were a weird

mange of clothing fads granny dresses

and throwback Sergeant Pepper uniforms

nou jackets surgical smocks men in

ponytails wearing Puka shell necklaces

and Jewelry earrings most of these

styles did not last long but the

prevailing mood was a change for the

sake of something different the

long-term result was the casualness

revolution also called

informalization which triumphed in the

1990s wearing blue jeans t-shirts and

athletic clothes on All Occasions

discarding neck ties and business suits

calling Everyone by their first name no

more use of titles and once polite forms

of

address simultaneously with these

changes erotic hom

heterosexuality was coming out of the

closet in literature and the

media the Jazz Age of the 1920s was

originally named after a slang word for

having sex novelists like Scott

Fitzgerald and songwriters like Cole

Porter were full of innuendo James

Joyce's ulses in 1922 began literary

depiction of the bodily details of sex

followed by DH Lauren Hemingway Henry

Miller and anas nin most of these were

published in Paris but censored

elsewhere until 1960 when their free

publication fueled the sexual atmosphere

of the

counterculture in 1968 Hollywood film

censorship changed to a rating system

marketing soft porn as PG Parental

Guidance and hard porn as

x-rated the 70s was the era of the

so-called pubic Wars glossy magazines

with nude photos tested the borders of

what could be displayed moving from

breasts to pubic air hair to arouse

genitals and by the 1980s to penetration

and oral sex pornographic photos had

existed before but they were cheaply

produced and had a limited underground

distribution now these were some of the

biggest Mass distribution magazines sex

magazines went into decline in the '90s

replaced by porn sites on the

internet it spilled over into language

obscene words began to be used in

political

demonstrations then on t-shirts in

fashion advertising and an ordinary

middle class

conversation the remaining Bastion of

prohibition on obscene language is what

could be said in School classrooms

everywhere else flaunting overt sex has

been a successful form of rebellion one

might even say that the major line of

conflict is no longer economic classes

but a status division hip and cool

versus square and

straight homosexual sex came out of the

closet as the same time as the porn

Revolution gay porn magazines and film

followed heterosexual men's magazines

their circulation was never as wide

Playboy and Penthouse reached peaks of 5

to 7 million but the gay movement was

more controversial and more activist

it's spun off from resistance tactics of

the Civil Rights Movement pushing back

at police raids on gay bars and meeting

places it became a Cascade of movements

gay and lesbian joined by bisexual queer

militant homosexuals rejecting gay

marriage transgender transsexual and

non-binary the growth of This Acronym

now

lgbtqi plus is it self a sociological

phenomenon to be explained as new

identities have been added every few

years a trajectory likely to continue

into the

future a related issue has been sex

education in the schools initially about

contraceptives for the prevention of

venial disease a term subsequently

changed then expanding to teach children

about homosexuality as an option in

recent years there are movements among

children as young as Elementary School

demanding to be referred to by

non-gendered pronouns and for government

funded sex reassignment hormones or

surgery the fields have struggled

expanded gender-free toilets the Battle

of pronouns Banning the words he and she

in 2021 the US House of Representatives

passed legislation Banning the use of

gendered words father mother brother

sister in government documents there are

similar efforts to create gender neutral

pronouns in French and Spanish although

thus far not very

popular the arena of such conflicts has

become increasingly political as

activists file lawsuits in the courts

and demand new legislation escalation on

one side leads to counter escalation on

the other it is in this context that we

can explain why the anti-abortion

movement has become much more militant

in the last few years

in

2019 abortions in the US were about 20%

of live births but in fact the ratio has

fallen from 25% 10 years earlier this is

largely due to teenagers having fewer

children and fewer abortions and to some

extent due to the growth of

homosexuality in the age group below 30

the anti-abortion movement has not

intensified because a dent abortion was

growing worse it is just the most

prominent way conservative legislators

can strike back at the latest waves of

sexual

Revolution conservatives view these

developments as the decline of morality

and good taste the intrusion of

government into the lives of their

children and educational policies that

they regard as

indoctrination abortion is seen as part

of the sexual Revolution run rampant

separating sex from the family extoling

forms of sex that turn traditional

parent ing into an outdated

status militants of homosexual movements

have declared that heteronormativity is

on its way out homosexuality has become

more widespread it was less than 2% of

the baby boom generation grew to almost

4% of the generation born before 1980 9%

of those who became adults around the

year 2000 in so-called Generation Z now

about 18 to 23 years old identifying as

LGBT has jumped to

16% this is still far from a majority

but an expanding movement is full of

aggressive confidence expecting a time

when the heterosexual family is a quaint

minority conservatives see the same

Trend but from a different point of view

the falling marriage rate the below

replacement fertility now down to

1.6 children per woman in the US the

lowest in its history and even lower in

parts of Europe 40% of all children born

to unmarried parents more people are

living alone proportionally more among

the age 65 and older but in sheer

numbers of households the largest number

living alone are working age

adults strict laws in American states

banning abortion have been created in a

situation where the political split

between conservatives and liberals

leaves neither of them with a firm

majority at the federal level while

conservatives fall back on regional

state legislators which they control

here also control over what goes on in

the schools is increasingly

contested abortion is just one issue in

a divisive cluster of issues making

abortion laws more restrictive will not

save the family illegal abortions would

reappear recapitulating the conflicts of

the 19

1960s conflict over abortion is a symbol

of the bigger question what

conservatives perceive as a

multi-pronged assault on the

family but there are reasons of a

different sort why the family is not

likely to disappear anytime

soon when the feminist Revolution took

off in the 1970s men soon discovered

they had an economic interest in their

wives careers a family with two middle

class incomes could outspend a

traditional male-headed upper middle

class household two working class

incomes put a family in the middle class

expenditure bracket in the New Economic

hierarchy the poorest families are those

where one woman's income has to care for

her children alone marriage and its

shared property rights continues to be

the buw workk of economic

stratification from a radical left point

of view this would a reason to abolish

the family or at least take child raring

away from the

family the situation is complicated by

gay marriage beginning with when gay

couples demanded the tax and inheritance

rights of marriage it also creates

wealthy households since gay men are

usually middle class or higher and two

such incomes make them Big Spenders one

reason why consumer Industries and

advertising are so favorable to the gay

movement on the other hand although gay

couples sometimes adopt children or use

sperm donors the number of children in

gay marriages is small only 15% of

same-sex Couples married or not have

children and this is unlikely to

compensate for the overall decline in

childbearing there are about 1 million

same-sex households in the US out of 128

million households this is less than

1% since about 13 million Americans

identify as

LGBT this implies that only one sixth of

them are living with a sexual partner

most of them are living alone the big

increase in living alone may even be

driven by the rise of homosexuality or

perhaps vice

versa this seems to be particularly true

in big US cities such as Washington DC

where one quarter of the adult

population live alone in apartments

making up half of all households

Washington is also the the city where

the largest percentage identify

themselves as LBG LGBT at

10% can sociology predict the future of

the family what will happen hinges a

great deal on government regulations and

these depend on the mobilization of

political movements against each other

the internet era has made it easier for

all sorts of movements to

mobilize but government regulation may

become a weapon by by which one side can

censor the other and try to keep it from

mobilizing the causes of conflict are

easier to predict than the outcomes

especially when the sides are relatively

evenly

balanced computerization and its

offshoot the internet foreshadow a

future in which almost everyone works at

home manual work is done by robots

everyone spends most their time

communicating online or absorbed in

online entertain attainment the

generation brought up on the Internet is

the shiest generation yet they have many

online friends but few friends in the

flesh they are less sexually active more

anxious and fearful the issue of

abortion may eventually decline because

there is less sexual activity in the

future generation the immersive virtual

world of the internet strongly promoted

by today's media capitalism may be

destroying the family by making it

easier to live physically solitary

lives

yet this may be why the family will

survive not as the universal social

institution but as a privileged

Enclave it is privileged because the

family is a place of physical contact of

interaction rituals solidarity and

emotional energy the family is also a

place of reliable sex surveys show that

married and cohabiting couples have have

much more frequent sex than unpartnered

individuals they don't have to spend

time looking for partners add to that

the two earner effect on household the

income an incentive for the family to

[Music]

survive the trajectory of the last 100

years has been to undermine the family

but the rise of the disembodied computer

world may change that I suspect we are

heading towards a future where intact

families father mother and their

children of all ages are the dominant

class economically and media networked

or media addicted isolates living alone

with their electronics are WS of the

welfare state thank you for your

[Applause]

attention thank you

Rell that's uh perfect timing too um we

have 10 or 15 minutes uh perhaps uh uh

for questions and discussion uh would

anyone like to lead

off well thank you very much Ral Collins

for this uh very interesting

lecture uh I have I I have a question

about uh what what actually is the

relation between the anti-abortion

movement and this whole change in

sexuality and and and and and family

life uh if you if you if you think of

the of the of the discourse of among the

anti-abortionists what what they say

they they do not refer so much to

sexuality uh and and and say that that

that uh sexuality should be confined to

family life but their their first motive

is that they

say uh abortion is is murder and because

because everyone after the conception a

new uh living being with with a unique

soul is born so abortion is just killing

and that's against the law and it's

agress and of course it's it's then

legitimated in religious terms it's it's

against it's forbidden by God so the

anti-abortion movement is is very much

of course related as you know with the

Orthodox Christianity within within

America and uh and Europe uh so what

what do you think then I mean is is this

just only the the uh superficial motiv

and and and and the hidden motives are

more refer to sexuality or what do you

think about

that oh so I got two uh uh points uh to

make about that one one as I explained

earlier on was that um the things that

people say in general abstract

principles are not really strong motives

in what they in what they do um they're

just way too unspecific in in addition

when people are so we but we can turn

this into an empirical question when

when and under what conditions do people

hold and

express uh positions when do they

express them more strongly when are they

very w v about about them um so the uh

the anti-ab verion movement um at least

in the United States where I've observed

it's gotten much more vehement in the

last 10 years than uh than ever before

uh and so you the the rhetoric has been

the same throughout but uh the vehement

has has uh changed

uh the uh uh the other point I I want to

make is that um the same people and the

same uh conservative politicians who are

U trying to pass and sometimes P passing

very strict anti-abortion laws also are

vehemently opposed to um

uh uh the the the pronoun War uh

uh same-sex

bathrooms um uh talking about

homosexuality as an option for children

uh government uh funding uh sex change

operations it seems to be a a complex of

of issues and uh among the uh

conservative

commentators uh

of many of them do bring it together as

a question of the assault on the family

as we know

it thank

you I think

sorry I think from the point of view of

Europeans rle the thing that most often

puzzles us is how it's often the same

people who are so vly opposed to gun law

uh reform

in other words the life of the child is

H sacred but it's okay to shoot

people yes well I mean actually sort of

under underlying that there's actually

be in the last few years there's been a

big increase in purchase of guns and uh

interviews with these people say the

world is just a whole lot more dangerous

now uh you know personally in uh I mean

these personally in America I can't

speak speak for elsewhere and they say

we need these guns because the

government's not going to protect us the

government's really against us the

government is against the police we have

to protect ourselves so it's it's a part

of a uh it's easy easy to see sort of

philosophical contradictions of what

people say but sort of on the Practical

level what they feel is we are really

Under Siege and and all the uh you know

government Elites are against us and we

have to defend

ourselves is it on yes yes hello thank

you very much for your very provocative

talk I have a question on the um the

combination of the different social um

activist groups in the letter

combination

lgbtq plus um in some respects they are

sometimes clustered together as being

all on the same side and um being firmly

on the um left leaning side uh but I

think you can now see that parts of

these letter combinations are actually

very um uh vocal in um starting to fight

among each other for instance um

especially in the UK feminists are

really vocal about um uh not um being on

the well on the side of uh eliminating

biology and saying that your sexuality

your sex is not um is not relevant for

how you identify so at least in Europe

you already see opposition to that um

well to being grouped together um do you

think um that on the basis of such um um

well such substance matter um that you

can have sort of

bipartisan new coalitions of feminists

and um conservatives for instance um uh

having uh creating new realignments on

these issues thank you can you just

identify yourself oh my name is

Kel yes um you thank you for bringing up

that uh this this point

um uh political slogans about coalitions

often are aspirational and and

rhetorical it's very notable o over here

here I'm speaking as a you know very

American Centric because that's the

sociology I know I'm I'm happy to you

know hear about uh movements in the

feminist movement in Britain uh the um

the rainbow Co

Coalition uh there uh has an ideology

this this is sort of a combination of

the Civil Rights Movement the uh uh

uh the various G gay movements uh the uh

defund the police movement and so forth

but in reality isn't really true the uh

the

uh homosexuality is not really all that

popular in the Black and Hispanic uh

communities it's very much a movement of

the white middle class but of course

when you're doing a political movement

you don't want to say say you know

anything that you know disturbs the

image of its being being uh United uh

Charles Tilly in his general theory

about social movements uh said that the

movement always wants to make itself

look like it's uh United and maximally

determined uh but that's essentially the

way it stages

itself another

question

anybody want to pick up the point about

the computerized future I mean this uh

that's my talk I sort of brought two

different phenomena together about about

the future but I I think that's often

the way history operates certain Trends

get going and then something else comes

out some other variable comes in from

the side and and and very much shifts it

and it's very striking how different the

youngest generation is the one uh who

have brought up their entire lives uh

online hello Randall Collins how nice to

see you uh I was thinking what if we

thought about what the anti-abortion

movement is in favor of the family the

family is like the central value to them

and their idea of the family is a man a

woman who have children and who stick

together uh and this family is under

Threat by all sorts of things by

immigrants by

Libertines uh by the

government and because the family is

threatened the man should protect his

family and he needs a gun to do so he

needs capital punishment to make sure

that per perp trators are get their due

punishments and woman should stand next

to her man in the fight he protects her

she supports him they have an entire

very positive ideology in positive terms

they're not just

anti-abortion they are against whatever

undermines the traditional family and

the hierarchy or maybe I should say the

symbiosis between a man who protects and

a woman who supports and educates

children so I would like to have a

positive account of the family

movement also because for its

explanatory

value it's I mean I'm not taking sides

I'm just trying to imagine how they

feel well there uh has been a movement

in the United States called the

promisekeepers which fits exactly the

you description that you made I mean

it's a a sort of non denominational

Christian uh movement uh that uh says

that you know men themselves should you

get active in defending the family and

not just leave it to to the the women uh

the at the same time there are uh

certain sociological trends that have

been going on that

um I think tend to make families more

egalitarian than they were before I

mentioned one of them which is that um

men have an economic interest in having

uh wives who uh have good careers uh the

you know so that uh at the very top of

the uh hierarchy um sort of doesn't

matter whether Jeff Bezos is married or

not uh he's got so much more money than

any anyone else but in the upper middle

class uh if you take that uh just in

terms of household income and and ignore

what the occupations are uh if you've

got two people have middle class incomes

they will be in it if you have one man

with a middle class income and a wife

who doesn't work they have an in they

have a a h household expenditure very

much like the working class so there is

an economic incentive

for men to be at least in C practical

sense feminists like they're in FA favor

of uh their wife's career there's

there's another uh Trend which is uh

again not noticeable in In America which

I'm going to make no V judgment about

this but just uh mention it and that is

the women are getting more armed

too um if you look at the crime

statistics uh there is increasing uh

proportion of violent Crimes by uh uh

women and in the most recent concern

about defunding the

police uh there's been a a very large

increase in number of people buying guns

and the largest percentage of that is uh

women buying guns I mean so you're kind

of seeing in an odd way a certain amount

of feminization of the right uh to go

along with you know obviously a big

feminization of of the left and and the

center uh so it's that part of it I

think is actually a a good

Trend um hello I'm Natalie enck and I'm

very pleased to meet you even if it's a

distance thank you for this very

suggestive uh talk and uh listening to

you I thought that maybe we should

distinguish two movements in what you

described the first one is about sexual

Liberation let's say um which began in

the 20th century and especially after

the second world war and after this

movement in which the movements

pro-abortion took place we have another

movement which is very um similar but

different at the same time which is the

digitalization of sexual relationship

ship of relationship in general and

sexual relationship in particular

through the internet which is another uh

movement which comes after the first

wave of uh the sexual Revolution and if

we come back to Elias's Concepts I

wondered whether um this second wave

digitalization of relationship is not uh

doesn't mean a kind of

decivilization process de civiliz it's

very difficult in French decivilizing

process because the absence of physical

uh relationship between people the uh

distant relationship allows a lowering

of the constraints allows more violence

allows less uh civility in

relationship and I wondered whether this

first wave of sexual Revolution hasn't

been

uh accelerated and directed until a

decivilizing process through the

internet uh yes that's um I I think you

know quite a a a good way to uh uh

conceptualize the uh you know uh

computerization

digitalization of of social

relationships and therefore of sex so I

uh mentioned um if you compare sexual

activity across Generations then you you

find that in the most recent two

generations uh uh these uh young people

are uh starting their sex lives uh later

uh having uh uh less actual sexual

relationships uh I haven't seen a a

close analysis of uh

specifically sexual or romantic uh

relationships uh

online uh but uh some of the data I've

have seen in a different context uh is

that uh the

uh uh the youngest generation of college

students are uh very anxious about uh

dealing with uh other

students uh and some of that is a sexual

an

anxiety uh one peculiar finding uh was

uh that uh women who identified

as

uh lesbian

or acronym uh were more worried about

being raped on campus uh which sounds to

me like a a uh a symbolic issue more

more than a real one although certainly

could you know look into the data on

that um I I mentioned uh that

um the the big rise in living

alone and uh it uh if you put this

together with people living their lives

online the two things seem to be very

compatible they sort of less comp

compatible if you're living with a bunch

of other people it's not that they're

not online also but I suspect that the

Lesser percentage of their life is being

spent uh

online um

the uh I I gave some statistics at the

end of the talk but let me to consider

the hypothesis that living the increase

in people living alone particularly

among the youngest uh generation may

have to do with the increase of

homosexuality that is if if you're

homosexual uh there's uh less reason for

you to uh want to uh actually be engaged

with other people or to put it another

way I have the impression that a

considerable percentage of say that's

16% who identify with I am

LGBT uh may not actually be practicing

homosexuals particularly if a lot of

them are are very young so one of the

things that the big issue is about uh

should uh

children um be allowed to uh change

their

sex uh and uh and should the government

help them them them do that well I mean

so if you if you get it a young young

enough age clearly enough you can uh

change your identity to uh

nonheterosexual without uh being

sexually active so it maybe we are

heading in that direction I mean so that

this this topic is uh you can kind start

out with the beginning of it sort of

basic wig history of yeah everything

used to be very repressive and then then

it opened up but history is not a moving

in a straight line and uh the

sociological news of recent times is hey

maybe there's maybe quite a big uh turn

going on

now well I am miklos hadash from Hungary

at

University um you use the term several

time by saying

lgbtq plus

Group Well if we would like to uh choose

an other

perspective we might say that there are

important internal gaps within this Camp

let me give you an example uh for

instance queer Scholars or the

representants of qu studies identify

themselves against gays and lesbians

saying that they have a stable

identity well what I would like to uh

illustrate that the knowledge position

is very important when we would like to

formulate scientific statements I do

agree with Donna her uh who is an

excellent standpoint feminist when she

says that uh

only um contextual situated knowledge uh

might Empower us to formulate um

objective statement so what I would like

to ask how could you define your

perspective your knowledge position

where are you speaking from when you

speak about uh these

issues

I I've used the the term LGBT in this

talk uh because it's a conventional term

of reference terms are in my opinion not

something to argue about they're just

terms of convenience like we know what

we're talking about now that we know we

can talk about we can argue about it we

can attack each other we can say you

have a poor epistemology or so forth but

nevertheless we need to have terms like

that I mean I uh

made the comment that um this started

out as uh be being a a uh movement that

call itself the gay movement then other

things added on to it I thought

i' sociologically have been a little bit

interested in the queer movement

precisely because this is sort of like

the radicals of the movement uh among

among other things uh the uh movement in

favor of gay marriage is attacked as

well you know you're becoming Bourgeois

you're selling out you're going back to

going back to the family I'm not making

any I'm not making any value judgment

about that uh because as a sociologist

I'm trying to find out uh you know

what's going on what's the best way to

analyze that and I think that's the best

way to do it rather than sort finger

pointing and uh attacking people for

trying to be

sociological I think that's

probably I think that um is probably the

point at which we should thank

Randall uh and it's

the it's also the close of the

conference Randall um might I say that I

quote before he has

[Applause]

this you notice that I miscued the

Applause for you my apologies for that

um I qu right at the beginning of the

conference I quoted Randall having said

to me yope always wrote about important

things and the same is true of Randall

himself uh as we have seen and uh the

connection we have with Randall is one

that we all uh value

I've been asked to say a few words by

way of reflection which is more

difficult and challenging and thanks

which is easy um let me start with the

thanks then that um thanks to the

organizing committee Johan hon who did a

great deal of the organization over the

last 12 months or whatever it is and we

haven't been able to see him because he

went down with Co

the day before the conference

started which is

awful um ni wilterding who is also

[Applause]

current oh is he Johan are you there can

you be conjured onto the

screen yes as well thanks thanks for all

your work any

here

um

careful

um Aran Arian post who has been equally

busy in the committee uh

as who's also Secretary of the nor Elias

foundation and I particularly want to

draw attention to the um

understated uh work of uh Emma vaner

Marl

[Applause]

um who has fetched and carried things

including speakers um and V Franson uh

who's seems to have seems to have been

doing a lot of the

electronics uh

um I want to thank the participants both

here and

online and particularly the the the full

range we're a little un underpopulated

at the end of the conference but it's

been a large conference particularly

when you count the number of people who

were taking part actively in many cases

by Zoom from great distances and um

we've had a terrific array of of papers

I believe the intention is that at least

some of them will find their way into a

special issue of historical social

research

um what else to say

yes there is another conference in the

offing uh it's a little uncertain but uh

as to date but uh uh book Holts and I

have been planning a conference in

Warsaw or

online uh it had to be postponed because

of everything being postponed by the uh

the pandemic and we we need to get back

to you with it was announced and then

postponed we think it will take place in

December and the topic which I think

will follow follow on nicely from many

of our discussions in this one is the

fantasy reality Continuum one of

Elias's key Concepts and one which may

have seemed a little

abstract uh in sociological circles

until recently and now we see the sheer

horror of how practical and important it

is that human groups can slide between

fantasy and reality and um it's not that

fantasy is necessarily A Bad Thing it

fulfills its purposes nor butt used to

say for

Fantasy I do poetry um but uh very often

put a fantasy has more practical

purposes but as I was saying in respon

responds to uh R to Richard Senate uh

earlier um there is a sense in which uh

the sheer level of ludicrous fantasy

that has spread in places where perhaps

we wouldn't have expected it to spread

like America is now quite

dangerous uh not to mention the fantasy

views of one um poutin um so I hope that

many of you will want to gather again

and I do hope that at least in part it

may be a an in-person Gathering because

in the end although it's more exhausting

to mix with people hour by hour than it

is to sit at home online uh in the end

there's no substitution for no

substitute for meeting in in

person finally I hope that we have done

Justice to the memory of Johan HS Blum

um and uh I think his

presence uh has been running right

through the conference and I hope he

would have been pleased at the way we

have um commemorated him thanks and have

a good journey

[Applause]

home

thank you st also organiz so

[Applause]

I I only have to deal with the

vi