Continuity and Innovation: Canadian Families in the New Millennium showcases how emerging and leading sociologists of the family explore the contemporary moments and experiences of Canadian families while investigating the past and extrapolating the implications of these moments and experiences for the future.

While there is continuity in what remains important about family in Canada, there is simultaneous diversity and innovation in the definition and character of the meanings we assign to families and the practices and processes that we engage in. Meanings, practices, and processes significantly vary over time. Such variations can be attributed to differences in individual identities, interactions, and ideologies that are linked to gender, sexuality, race and ethnicity, class, age, ability, and citizenship, as well as social-historical context.

This exploration of Canadian families is based on both respected secondary research, along with primary, original scholarship by the contributors, who are actively engaged as sociologists of the family. Contributors take various approaches to explore the family as an institution (macro focus) or as an experience (micro focus), using a variety of theoretical lenses, and sharing stories of activism or experiential learning in doing so.

Part 1: Foundations
Chapter 1: Families as We Know and Have Known Them
Chapter 2: Theorizing and Researching Family

Part 2: Family Formations and Living Arrangements
Chapter 3: Seeking Intimacy, Forming Families
Chapter 4: Living Arrangements

Part 3: Surviving and Thriving
Chapter 5: The Outcomes of Incomes: Family Insecurity or Security in Insecure Times
Chapter 6: Managing Low Income in Families: The Importance of Institutions and Interactions

Part 4: Patterns of Indigeneity and (Im)migration
Chapter 7: Indigenous Families: Migration, Resistance, and Resilience
Chapter 8: Immigrant Families and Canada’s Changing Ethno-Racial Diversity

Part 5: Power and Rights
Chapter 9: Paid and Unpaid Work: Power, Division, and Strategies
Chapter 10: When Abuse Strikes at Home: Families and Violence
Chapter 11: (De)colonization, Racialization, Racism, and Canadian Families: Relearning Through Storytelling About Lived Experience

Part 6: Care Work and Social Support
Chapter 12: Families Caring for Children in the 21st century
Chapter 13: Caregiving and Support for Older Adults
Chapter 14: Families Experiencing Dis/ability

Part 7: Deepening Continuity and Innovation
Chapter 15: “Doing Family”: Lenses, Patterns, and Futures

Continuity and Innovation: Canadian Families in the New Millennium showcases how emerging and leading sociologists of the family explore the contemporary moments and experiences of Canadian families while investigating the past and extrapolating the implications of these moments and experiences for the future. While there is continuity in what remains important about family in Canada, there is simultaneous diversity and innovation in the definition and character of the meanings we assign to families and the practices and processes that we engage in. Meanings, practices, and processes significantly vary over time. Such variations can be attributed to differences in individual identities, interactions, and ideologies that are linked to gender, sexuality, race and ethnicity, class, age, ability, and citizenship, as well as social-historical context. This exploration of Canadian families is based on both respected secondary research, along with primary, original scholarship by the contributors, who are actively engaged as sociologists of the family. Contributors take various approaches to explore the family as an institution (macro focus) or as an experience (micro focus), using a variety of theoretical lenses, and sharing stories of activism or experiential learning in doing so. Intersections features within the text showcase how different issues that present themselves within the family context often overlap. This feature helps students to critically understand how social topics are often intersecting. A Closer Look sections are included throughout each chapter and offer a closer, in-depth look at particularly relevant topics. More than 70% of chapters include primary research presented by the contributing authors. Each chapter concludes with a summary along with discussion questions that can be utilized to stimulate class participation and application questions for students to apply their learning. CourseMate provides instructors with all of the reporting tools needed to track student engagement, while students can access an interactive e-book and study tools in a dynamic, online learning environment.