The Demise of Family Authority in the time of symbolic liberalism

The Case of Swedish Compulsory Child Removal

Sari Hanafi.

Professor of Sociology, Director of the Center for Arab and Middle Eastern Studies and Chair of the Islamic Studies program. American University of Beirut

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Sari Hanafi.

The family constitutes the basic unit in society despite being now more fragile and ephemeral than before. It has been for long not only the center of care and personal affections, but also the basis of civic education and public virtue. Yet, many scholars have argued that family authority is being eroded by both the liberal state and the forces of neoliberal and emotional capitalism.

In my recent work (Hanafi 2023), I argued that the bulk of the responses of the social sciences and/or sociology to the pathologies of late modernity was defined as being classically liberal but politically illiberal – I call this peculiar combination “Symbolic Liberalism”. This kind of liberalism seeks to impose a hegemonic and deculturized conception of the good, undermining family authority. I will focus on the consequences of such imposition on family, taking a particular case of compulsory child removal from their biological family in Sweden. I will argue that the Swedish social services intervene beyond these legitimate actions and use very heavy-handed interventions, particularly in forced kids rehoming. 

The finding will show that the symbolic liberal and neoliberal state uses its authority and that of the school/social service over the family authority, instead of complementing it.