The Political Economy of the Family

• In Event: The Intersectional Politics of the Private

Abstract

In 1980 President Jimmy Carter held a national conference on families. It was time, he said, “to examine the strengths of American families, the difficulties they face and how they are affected by public policies.” Historical accounts of this period attribute the WHCF as the clincher in the national rise of the evangelical conservative agenda and, in particular the birth of pro-life, anti-gay and lesbian, traditional “family values” politics. However, what is not fully explored in these historical accounts is that American families themselves were less concerned with pro-life issues and more worried about their ability to balance the rising costs of living, and work demands with their families. Analyzing conference proceedings, and final reports, I examine the way in which “the family” played a literal and figurative role in the implementation of US neoliberal economy and I explore the linkage between the development of pro-market policies, rise of corporate political power, variations in state authority, and the shutting down of a progressive family social policy platform. I end with drawing out comparisons of the status of families then and now.

Author

• Priscilla Yamin, University of Oregon