Instead of seeing the family as a 'monolithic' entity, as though separate from its surroundings, this new approach draws attention to assemblages of various types that in different constellations and through different transactions relate people to each other as families and kin.

PART I: OUTLINING RELATEDNESS Introduction; R.Jallinoja & E.D.Widmer Relationality and Socio-cultural Theories of Family Life; C.Smart PART II: ASSEMBLING FAMILIES Making Family at Wedding: Bilateral Kinship and Equality; F. Maillochon & A-M Castrén Christmas Celebration, an Annual Family Gathering; R.Hauri Family Photographs: Putting Families on Display; A.Gomila Obituaries as Family Assemblages; R.Jallinoja PART III: SETTING UP FAMILIES WITH SIGNIFICANT OTHERS Couple Formation as a Transition between Families; L.Bernardi & A.Oppo Social Networks and Family Formation; S.Keim Exclusivity and Inclusivity in Transnational Adoption; R.Högbacka PART IV: FAMILIES IN THE REMAKING Money and the Dynamics of Intimate Relationships; C.Ruiner, A.Hirseland & W.Schneider Making Families at an Old Age; D.Sýkorová Reassembling Families after Divorce; U.Zartler Families in a Globalized World; E.Beck-Gernsheim PART V: FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS AS SOCIAL CAPITAL Family Relations as Social Capital; G.Rossi, R.Bonini & S.Mazzucchelli The Fabric of Trust in Families: Inherited or Achieved?; I.De Carlo & E.D.Widmer Afterthoughts; R.Jallinoja & E.D.Widmer Bibliography Index

ELISABETH BECK-GERNSHEIM is Visiting Professor at NTNU/Trondheim, Norway
LAURA BERNARDI is Professor of Demography and Sociology of Life Course, Director of the Laboratory for Life Course Studies and Deputy Director of the National Centre for Competence in Research 'LIVES' at Lausanne University, Switzerland
ROBERTA BONINI is a Lecturer in Social Policy and Quantitative Methodology at the Catholic University of Milan, Italy
IVAN DE CARLO is a PhD Student and Lecturer at the Department of Sociology, Geneva University, Switzerland
ANNA-MAIJA CASTRÉN is Docent and a Research Fellow at the Department of Social Research (sociology), Helsinki University, Finland
ANTÒNIA GOMILA works at the Department of Philosophy, University of the Balearic Islands
ROLAND HAURI is working on his doctoral thesis and is a research and teaching assistant at the Institute for Practical Theology, Bern University, Switzerland
ANDREAS HIRSELAND is a Senior Researcher at the Department 'Joblessness and Social Inclusion', Institute for Employment Research (IAB), the German Federal Employment Agency (BA), in Nuremberg, Germany
RIITTA HÖGBACKA is a Lecturer and Postdoctoral Scholar at the Department of Social Research (sociology), Helsinki University, Finland and a Visiting Scholar at California University, Berkeley, USA
SYLVIA KEIM is a Research Scientist at Rostock University, Germany
FLORENCE MAILLOCHON is a Sociologist at the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS; CentreMaurice Halbwachs; ERIS) in Paris, France
SARA MAZZUCCHELLI is a Sociologist and a Research Fellow at the Athenaeum Centre for Family Research and Studies, Catholic University of Milan, Italy
ANNA OPPO was previously Professor of Sociology at Gagliari University, Italy, but is now retired
GIOVANNA ROSSI is Full Professor of Family Sociology at Catholic University of Milan, Italy
CAROLINE RUINER is a Research Associate at the Faculty of Philosophy and Social Sciences, Augsburg University, Germany
WERNER SCHNEIDER is Professor of Sociology at Augsburg University, Germany
CAROL SMART is Professor of Sociology and Co-Director of the Morgan Centre for the Study of Relationships and Personal Life at Manchester University, UK
DANA SÝKOROVÁ is Docent/Professor of Sociology at the Faculty of Social Studies, Ostrava University and the Philosophical Faculty of Palacký University in Olomouc, Czech Republic
ULRIKE ZARTLER is an Assistant at the Institute of Sociology, Vienna University, Austria