Most sociologists agree that there have been profound social and economic transformations in Western societies since the 1970s. Late modernity, as Giddens (1991) refers to it, is a period in which processes of globalisation and economic restructuring have had dramatic effects on the life experiences of many people, and people are likely to think more about their individual needs.
The growth of computer technologies, shifts in electronic communication and information flow, changed patterns of national and international migration, and decreased levels of job security, among other developments, have fostered a world in which the economic and social certainties that shaped life in the mid-twentieth century no longer hold such force. These transformations have had a clear impact on the public world of employment, finance and the economy. Importantly, though, they have also had significant consequences for the structuring of people’s personal and intimate worlds. This article explores some of these changes, focusing particularly on family and friendship ties.
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