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American family

Maxine Eichner (UNC): The Privatized American Family. Modern family: James Chappel reviews Family Values: Between Neoliberalism and the New Social Conservatism by Melinda Cooper. Lionel Smith (McGill): Parenthood Is a Fiduciary Relationship. We invest far more time and money in raising our children than our parents did — Ryan Avent wonders whether we’re doing it in their best interests or in ours. The U.S. already has a high-quality, universal childcare program — in the military. Why your children’s day care may determine how wealthy they become. Parenting is not a “job,” and marriage is not “work”: Yes, they’re hard to do — but our narrow moral vocabulary for describing non-professional pursuits is making our lives worse. Is American childhood creating an authoritarian society? Patrik Chougule on how overprotective parenting is a threat to democracy.