Familism

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Familism is a sociological term that describes the family as the leading form of a social structure .

This social structure occurs especially in premodern societies . In familism, the clan ( kinship ) or, in the narrower sense, the (extended) family, take on the function of an entity that secures the existence of the individual and supports the cohesion of society as a whole. In ideal familism, no conflicts arise between the family structure and other external social actors . The latter are simply nonexistent or meaningless.

The mythologically highly differentiated example of the Greek pantheon of gods - a decidedly familistic social formation - also teaches that familistic societies are in no way less conflictual than e.g. B. corporative , versäult or egalitarian are structured.

Familism in Japan

Especially during the heyday of Shintoism , a form of familism developed in Japan . The cohesion of groups was less (e.g.) based on religion than it was expressed through specific social relationships .

Japanese society was divided into so-called uchi . Uchi refers to house , home and later also company , generally inside , it is included in miuchi (family circle ) and nakamauchi (circle of friends or colleagues). Japanese society developed vertically and the uchi became the ie (household, family) as the core element of familism. The ie here expresses a kind of "collective with a common residence". It defines the members of the household, consisting of family and other people, and is thus defined by the common place of residence and the common economic organization. The social relationships of the members of the ie are more important than all other relationships, even those by blood; only the parent-child relationship is valid. This means, among other things, that the succession of the head of the household can be regulated through adoption . “Not consanguinity, but belonging to a group are decisive [...] thus the kinship bond, normally viewed as the original and fundamental human bond, is apparently replaced in Japan by a personalized relationship to the collective, which is based on joint work at the same time includes the essential aspects of social and economic life. "

literature

Gisela Notz : Critique of Familism. Theory and social reality of an ideological painting . Butterfly publishing house, Stuttgart 2015

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ Karl-Heinz Hillmann : Dictionary of Sociology (= Kröner's pocket edition . Volume 410). 4th, revised and expanded edition. Kröner, Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3-520-41004-4 , p. 216 (chapter Familism ).
  2. ^ Mathias Hildebrandt : Political culture and civil religion. Königshausen & Neumann , Würzburg 1996, ISBN 978-3-8260-1101-6 , pp. 160-163.
  3. ↑ Hildebrandt 1996, p. 170.
  4. ↑ Hildebrandt 1996, p. 161.