• ISBN13: 9781403941251
• Binding: Paperback
• Subject: Sociology and Anthropology
• Publisher: Macmillan
• Publisher Imprint: Palgr Mac
• Publication Date: January 1, 2005
• Pages: 240
• Original Price: GBP 23.99
• Language: English
• Edition: N/A
• Item Weight: 300 grams
• BISAC Subject(s): Sociology / Marriage & Family, Women's Studies, and Siblings

Sister stories are rare compared with images of celebrity sisters and 'sisterhood'. Based on 37 interviews, this fascinating book uncovers sisters' complex relationships. Readers will play 'mapping' games to guess where they figure in its patterns. Sisters talk passionately about how their closeness and distance affects the power-balance between them. Making parallels with friendship and caring, it explores formations of gender, identity and intimacy in family life. Sistering was nominated for the British Sociological Association's 2003 Philip Abrams Prize.

MELANIE L. MAUTHNER is Lecturer in Social Policy at the Open University. She previously taught research methods at the Institute of Education, University of London. She has co-edited Ethics in Qualitative Research (Sage 2002) and The Politics of Gender and Education (Palgrave 2004). She is a Trustee of the Women's Therapy Centre and lives in London.