The Family in Flux in Southeast Asia addresses the need to understand new trends affecting basic family structures in the region: decreases in fertility rates, aging populations, rising divorce rates, increases in female-headed households, smaller families, and increasing mobility of migrant workers. Leading scholars from disciplines including history, political science, economics, sociology, literary studies, and anthropology address topics including legal institutionalization, polygamy, national identity, gender roles, migration, and transnational marriage. They present cases of complementary, alternative, or parallel developments form Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. The authors provide a critical look at how notions of the family are negotiated amidst worries over the family's disintegration in the face of globalizing trends and increasing mobility, and how it is affected by increasing flows in the globalizing world.

"I don′t know how often I′ve wished for an introductory text on family life which encompassed critical contemporary sociological thinking alongside the basic information students need, and have only found fossilised thinking on a stodgy subject. But now all that has changed. McKie and Callan have achieved what I thought was almost impossible in Understanding Families - a textbook which provides unrivalled foundations for a critical understanding of contemporary families and relationships." - Carol Smart, The Morgan Centre, University of Manchester "This excellent, innovative, comprehensive and easy to read text should be essential reading for everyone keen to understand families across the globe... It will make an outstanding contribution to family studies and is highly recommended." - Janet Walker, Newcastle University "Easy to read text, which debates current thinking surrounding modern families. Case studies and questions for the reader throughout the text help traslate theory into practice." - Justine Gallagher, Northumbria University Families are the core building blocks of society. Our experience of them affects many aspects of our everyday lives shaping our expectations and future plans. Written by experts in family studies and family policy, this clear, engaging book adopts a global perspective to usefully examine how modern families can be explored and understood in research, policy and practice. Packed with critical pedagogy, including case-studies, think points, key words and a glossary, it guides students through topics such as relationships, sexualities and paid and unpaid work, continually returning to its central themes of process and structure. The book also: Applies key social theories to contemporary analysis Examines key studies on researching families and family life Explores the role of government policies and practices This comprehensive introduction to the study of families and relationships is a timely resource for students and lecturers working across the social sciences, particularly students of family studies, the sociology of the family, family policy, and social work and the family Linda McKie is Professor of Sociology, Glasgow Caledonian University; Samantha Callan is based at the Centre for Social Justice. They are both affiliated to the Centre for Research on Families and Relationships at the University of Edinburgh.

"Written by more than 100 adult alumni of foster care, FLUX is an honest, useful, and juicy look at what it really means to become an adult after growing up in the system"--Cover, P. [4].

Filled with excitement, danger, and daring, Jonesy Flux and the Gray Legion is a classic space adventure with deliberate retro trappings. Enter Canary Station, in the Noraza system, where many died and only a few were left alive. Jonesy is one of a pack of children still living there after the station was brutally destroyed by a mysterious ship and an invasive computer virus. Separated from their families during the evacuation, these intrepid kids have bonded and survived, making the most of what remains, repairing what they can, and planning for a rescue. One day, as Jonesy salvages in a forbidden section of the station, an accident unleashes strange powers within her. Unfortunately, this burst of energy immediately attracts a malevolent group of adults eager to grab the source of this flare. They kidnap everyone except for Jonesy, who uses her newfound power to stay hidden during the invasion. Now it’s up to her to figure out how to escape the station, rescue her friends, and reunite with her family, all while learning to harness her mysterious new powers.