The hegemony of the family

Abstract

As a modern institution of the state, the family has both exerci­sed and reproduced –ever since the birth of modern nation-states– official guidelines whose main objective pursue the discipline of its population. Through the production of hegemonic discourses as well as socially esta­blished behaviors categorized as good or bad, this institution has always been considerably influential in the most intimate part of the lives of its people, with a view to directing the social behavior for the benefit of the state. Despite the changes undergone in contemporary cultural processes, the adaptation of the family institution to new social dynamics, the shift of the traditional family foundations, and the uprising of counter-hegemonic discourses, its institutional sense of social control is still present.