The Transfomation of American Family Law – Janet L. Dolgin
define both domains, has begun to shift. Increasingly, "home" becomes indistinguishable from "work". Yet, at the same time, society strains to celebrate traditional understandings of childhood and of the parent-child relationship
The new dynamic, which defines the domestic sphere through metaphors that once applied to the marketplace and through metaphors that once distinguished the home, appears more fragile than the old dynamic, which relied on context to differentiate a view that prized status (at home) from a view that prized contract (at work). It is not clear whether the family will be preserved as a domain defined through love and loyalty.
It is not clear whether the vision undergirding Baker v . State can long co-exist with that undergirdng Troxel v. Granville. But, it is clear that the law, reflecting the larger society, has been shaken by a monumental shift in understandings of relationships "at home", and that society and the law struggle to integrate a view of family "as enduring community" with a view of family as a collection of autonomous individuals, committed to choice and bargain.