Michèle Barrett & Mary McIntosh: The Anti-Social Family

Verso, 2025, softcover, 176 pages, 13 x 20 cm

Why we need to break free from the persistent tyranny of the nuclear family.

The stereotypical nuclear family is in the minority of households, yet remains a powerful ideology. This classic of socialist feminism charts how the family reinforces conditions of inequality, and asks: Why does the family enjoy such popular support, including by feminists and the left? Despite its many problems, The Anti-social Family answers, the family meets real needs. These needs must be taken seriously, and alter-native ways to meet them developed, giving people more choices and collectively taking on the work and responsibilities currently privatised within the family.