Chris R. Langley, Cultures of Care: Domestic Welfare, Discipline and The Church of Scotland, c.1600-1689

Research output: Contribution to journalBook/Film/Article reviewpeer-review

Abstract

Cultures of Care transforms the way we think about care in early modern Scotland, providing an insight into a private world that is often difficult to glimpse. The scope of the research alone grabs the reader's attention; the manuscript bibliography (pp. 185–9) lists the records of eighty different kirk sessions, an impressive feat, that adds substantial weight to the findings.

The implications of this research extend beyond their contribution to the history of care, adding to our knowledge of the everyday interactions with church authority in post-Reformation Scotland. Through the analysis of care networks, officials (ministers, deacons and elders) are firmly situated within the wider community and the private, personal and professional roles of the clergy are shown to be entangled. A convincing argument is made to approach the notions of ‘official’ and ‘domestic’ with caution. This liminal (re)positioning of church officials demonstrates the complex role that the Kirk played in the seventeenth century and provides an insight into the lives of the clergy that have often been obscured by a desire to separate official and domestic spheres.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)213-215
Number of pages3
JournalInnes Review
Volume72
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 30 Nov 2021

Keywords

  • book review
  • Scotland
  • Church of Scotland
  • history of care

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