Deconstructing Laundry: Gendered Technologies and the Reluctant Redesign of Household Labor

This paper examines the ways in which technological innovations have entered the home through the process of laundry. We take a brief look at the history of laundry technology, examining the costs of locating laundry in the private sphere and discussing alternatives. We highlight the links between laundry technology and ideologies about “women’s place.

African American Families: Historical and Contemporary Forces Shaping Family Life and Studies

This work provides a broad analysis of sociological and historical literature on African American families. Beginning with an analysis of Black families under slavery, we trace the current diversity of African American family structures through history, elaborating on the structural oppressions that shape these experiences. The contemporary experiences of Black families are intimately connected with the historical, economic, and social conditions encountered by generations past. This work is not intended to be a definitive statement regarding the experiences of largely diverse groups of families, but instead a critical look at the structural forces that affect the lives of Black families and the systematic racism that informs public discourse about Black families and scholarship

African American Families: Historical and Contemporary Forces Shaping Family Life and Studies

Introduction: Any attempt to examine sociological and historical information regarding African American families is fraught with very broad and controversial literatures. Much of this reflects a perspective that generally stressed the negative impacts of slavery on evolving Black family structures and relationships, often speaking of the alleged demise and pathologies of Black families. This perspective is largely reflective of culturally biased analyses, and racism endemic to academic study and larger society. The literature emphasized here in turn questions and critiques these analyses, generally stressing the strengths of Black families, the complexities of slavery in the shaping and adaptation of family life, and the continued structural oppressions that shape these experiences. All sides carry with them political and policy implications, which have in the past and continue today to influence the perceptions and well-being of Black American families. This work is not intended to be a definitive statement regarding the experiences of largely diverse groups of families, but instead a critical look at the structural forces that affect the lives of Black families and the systematic racism that informs public discourse about Black families and scholarship