4 - From Elizabeth Bott, “Urban Families: Conjugal Roles and Social Networks”

Summary

The work by Elizabeth Bott is still mentioned as a "hypothesis" even though it has inspired many researchers over generations, pointing out that the subject is not closed. She raised a new fundamental question about the link between network structure and the forms of conjugality, which remains relevant in a world that has evolved in the social, cultural, and scientific domains. Networks are considered not only an object of research, rather they shed light on other objects (way of life, culture, behaviors, etc.). Today, Bott’s questioning may undergo some shifts as some social realities have changed and the lenses for observing these realities have also progressed. Advances in network analysis and in cultural and gender studies, as well as the more recent emphasis on relational dynamics, all contribute to further explore her question and give new insights on her hypothesis. The greater accuracy of the categories of both network structures (specifying the position of the partner) and conjugal roles (dividing them between norms and practices, then decisions and tasks) allows a more detailed description of their ways of combination. The dynamic dimension makes it possible to differentiate between contrasting processes of building a couple and integrating the partner into people's relational universes.