SINGLE LIVING, ISOLATION AND SOCIAL TIES - FORMS OF RELATIONAL POSITIONING

Current definitions and views on single living are not quite as precis e as could be and often such different forms, such as celibacy, single families, social disinsertion, solitude, are treated as one. This art icle attempts to rule out some of these inaccuracies by analysing the combination of two essential components: single living and the importa nce of the relational network. The main conclusion is to have brought to light somewhat contradictory processes at the two ends of the socia l ladder; single living positions itself in very different contexts de pending on the place it occupies on the social ladder. One of the most obvious trajectories is that of isolation-exclusion with narrow spher es of family-type integration as the predominant element, meaning ulti mate protection, which at the same time penalizes the access to the mo st operational of social ties.