Friday 13 April 2012 at 11:00 - 12:30 FAMILIES, RELATIONSHIPS, LIFECOURSE 2


MANAGING AND MERGING FAMILIES Duncan, S., Carter, J., Phillips, M., Roseneil, S., Stoilova, M.


Living Apart Together: Towards a Multi-dimensional Understanding


'Living apart together' (LAT) – that is being in a relationship with a partner who lives somewhere else – is increasingly accepted as a specific way of being in a couple. This seems a far cry from the 'traditional' version of couple relationships, where co-residence in marriage was the normative model of intimacy and where living apart from one's partner, if it were recognised at all, would be regarded as abnormal and understandable only as a reaction to severe external constraints.


So how might we understand living apart together in the early 21st century? There are two main interpretations. Some commentators regard LAT as a historically new form of personal life in which people can pursue both intimacy and at the same time maintain their individual autonomy, and/or preserve pre-existing commitments. Some people in LAT relationships may even de-prioritize sexual/love relationships and place more importance on friendship. Alternatively, others see LAT as a just a 'stage' on the way to cohabitation and marriage. In this view, people living apart are not radical pioneers moving beyond the family, but are cautious and conservative, and show a lack of commitment.


In this paper we take this debate further by using data from an ongoing ESRC research project. This employs a multi-level analysis based on 1. representative national survey, 2. semi-structured interviews, and 3. psychosocial biographical-narrative interviews. We present some initial findings about why people live apart, how they practice and understand their relationships, and explore their, often ambivalent and conflicted, feelings about their relationships.


Seymour, J.D. University of Hull More than Putting on a Performance: Merging Family Practices and Critical Hospitality Studies


Critical Hospitality Studies and the Sociology of Families and Intimate Relationships have shown a developing theoretical convergence predicated by the 'social turn' in Hospitality Studies which focuses on the production of social relationships and the 'doing' of everyday life. Morrison (2002) has stressed how hospitality studies and the social sciences could be interlinked ’with [there being] a potential unity in comprehensive theory building and knowledge creation' and this paper aims to contribute to that collaboration. Recent hospitality research on 'Commercial Homes', (where families live and work in the same location) has drawn strongly on Goffman’s concept of performance as an explanatory lens on both guest and host behaviour. My engagement with this literature has led me to interrogate what the contribution of the developing concept of Displaying Families could add to the understanding of the multiple scripts enacted within these settings. This additional concept provides an emphasis on the family practices of host families as well as the commercial practices privileged in Hospitality studies. Drawing on empirical evidence it appears that, for the hosts, displaying families in Commercial Homes is a complex and, apparently paradoxical, mix of presentation and reticence - the family has to be highly visible but not publicly privileged over guests. Thus family members must be hypervisible while also, on certain occasions, exhibiting 'displayed reticence'. The inclusion of the concept of display will serve to illuminate further the arenas where family, commercial and hospitality practices intersect.


Amirmoayed, A. Persian Intercultural Coupling Practices in the Multicultural UK


Studying Persian coupling practices can contribute important insights into the diverse nature of family life in the UK. This area of research can challenge mainstream sociological theorisation of family life and intimate relationships and can assist us in investigating the impact of modernity on coupling practices within the context of cross-cultural practices in a multicultural setting. This research aims to examine intercultural coupling practices in order to derive a clearer picture of the intersection of ethnicity, tradition, and religion that shape such practices within late modern society. By drawing on my primary empirical data this paper will address the ways in which Persians construct and understand meanings attached to coupling practices in the UK. Since the exploration of those meanings and the construction of coupling practices are different in diverse cultures I will investigate how Persians practice, negotiate, and sustain their partnering relationships across cultural differences. The analysis will focus on three key stages of coupling practices: Pre, Present, and Post Coupling Practices. I will investigate people’s expectations, evaluations, and justification of these three stages. Moreover, by distinguishing religion and tradition I also will examine the interplay of these two facets in coupling practices. Further I will explain how Shiaism may affect people’s partnering relationships by exploring some Shia practices such as temporary marriage that have not been


269 University of Birmingham ROGER STEVENS 15 University of Bradford


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