Books by Margaret K. Nelson

For decades, social scientists have assumed that "fictive kinship" is a phenomenon associated only with marginal peoples and people of colour in the United States. In this innovative book, Nelson reveals the frequency, texture and dynamics of relationships which are felt to be "like family" among the White, middle-class.

Analyzing the goals and aspirations parents have for their children as well as the strategies they use to reach them, this book discovers fundamental differences among American parenting styles that expose class fault lines, both within the elite and between the elite and the middle and working classes.